Going Off The Deep End
by Saya Moonshadow
Summary: It started out as a normal week for Kyogre, fighting with Groudon, getting into trouble with Arceus, the usual. But when a mysterious egg hatches, her life changes irreversibly...perhaps for the better. Orbshipping; Kyogre x Groudon.
1. In which there is punishment to be had

**Hmm...old fic idea that's finally kind of coming to fruition. Seriously, I've had this in my head probably since 2006 or 2007. Whenever the movie with Manaphy in it came out, anyway. So yeah. Hope you enjoy reading it.**

**Disclaimer: All I can really claim ownership of is each Pokémon's personality, and even then only slightly. **_**Pokémon**_** itself belongs to Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri.**

**Summary: It started out as a normal week for Kyogre, fighting with Groudon, getting into trouble with Arceus, the usual. But when a mysterious egg hatches, her life changes irreversibly...perhaps for the better. KyogreGroudon.**

**Going Off the Deep End  
****By: Bahamut PURE**

I was pretty sure that this was going to suck.

All kidding aside, I really did hate meetings. Why Arceus forced them upon us is anybody's guess, but all I was really sure of was that I hated them. Mostly because of how _boring_ they all were. All that got done was telling our great Creator about what was going on in our respective realms, reporting any problems, and assuring her of our solutions to those problems.

And after that, we were all forced to stay for another week or so to "get to know each other again". Meetings only came about once every few years, so naturally we all would have had a lot of time to fall out of touch and forget about the wonderful camaraderie that we should have but never really had to begin with.

It's just what happens when you throw so many different beings with different personalities together in a single space.

Not to mention that all these meetings are held in Sinnoh, of all places. Why Sinnoh, you ask? Because that's where the great Arceus herself lives, in her wonderful Hall of Origin where she sits and rules the universe and makes our lives hell all the while.

Being held in Sinnoh means that I always have a fair distance to swim. Then again, I love swimming. It's what my body was made for. No other Pokémon loves to swim as much as I do. Of course, as I am Kyogre, ruler of the seas, this is to be expected. But still. Receiving a summons from one of Arceus's carrier Pidgeys saying that I'm expected at the Hall of Origin within twenty-four hours is really pushing it, even for me.

At least I can swim, though getting to the actual Hall is always a problem. But that's where Arceus herself comes in, using her amazing powers to somehow teleport those of us who cannot fly all the way up to the Hall. And then dropping us unceremoniously on our stomachs. It hurts.

Anyway, all that aside, I was fairly sure as I swam to this next meeting that it was going to suck much worse than usual. This meeting was also much earlier than usual, and as much as I hate to admit it, it was kind of my fault.

And Groudon's. He was part of it too.

Groudon and I had never gotten along. Though he'd tell you otherwise, I had always been certain the reason he hated me so much was because of my type advantage over him. I, of course, relished the Water vs. Ground difference, though I couldn't help but wonder just why Arceus made us that way. Was she really not worried that the type difference would be too much?

This disadvantage had always put Groudon rather on edge when it came to me, and not a meeting of ours went by that he didn't have some rude comment or another to say about me. Most of our arguments were his fault. Most of them. I admit that sometimes I just can't resist taking a few jabs at him, but really. Does he _have_ to make fun of the fact that I basically don't have legs to walk with? Really, so what if I'm incapable of walking? I can swim better than anyone else, and he can't even manage to stay afloat in the water.

Nor was there any call for him to laugh so much at me that time Arceus used her power to make us all into humans as part of some stupid bonding exercise. In my natural form, I can't walk, as I have no legs. Being turned into a human wasn't going to suddenly rectify my lack of walking knowledge. And thus, I was utterly humiliated when I tried to stand and fell down almost immediately. It took me that entire week to learn how to walk while human, and I only managed to learn that quickly because Cresselia and Articuno took pity on me and helped.

Cresselia's another one that doesn't have legs, but of course, she mastered walking right away. Even those of us who normally have four didn't struggle as much as I did when it came to walking on only two.

As soon as Arceus deemed it appropriate to turn us back to normal, I leaped upon Groudon and would have bitten a good chunk out of his arm had Rayquaza not barged in a second later.

I could float if need be, though I still preferred to stay in the large pool of water that Arceus had created in the Hall for my use. Much more comfortable that way.

And all that aside, I was pretty sure Arceus wasn't going to take "_He started it!"_ as a legitimate excuse for why Slateport City had almost been hit by a tidal wave last month. Especially since tidal waves are more or less my domain and not Groudon's. Then again, Slateport had _also_ been hit by an earthquake that exact same day, so he was still in trouble too.

But still. It was all his fault once again that we were going to get a verbal (and possibly physical) beating from Arceus.

* * *

I arrived in Sinnoh just an hour before the deadline. And now, I had to wait. I can float, yes, but not so high as to make it to the Hall of Origin. And I had learned from experience that most humans don't take very well to seeing a giant Legendary Pokémon floating through the air, so instead, I was forced to wait for Arceus to realize I was here and teleport me to the Hall.

As I waited, I continued thinking. I wondered how those of us who don't fly or swim were going to get to the Hall. Regirock, Registeel, and Regice, for example. Maybe they get help from someone, I don't know. Though I swore if they got teleported right to the Hall from their homes, then I was going to be pissed. After all, here I was being forced to swim for my life while they probably got off easy! How was that fair?

At least I didn't attack humans without provocation. Them, they'd attack any human that dared go near the Tree of Beginning.

Hmm...Hall of Origin, Tree of Beginning, Cave of Origin...I'm sensing a pattern here. Apparently Arceus was running out of names or something.

I was in the middle of musing about this when a voice in my mind rang out.

"_Kyogre. You have arrived?"_

It was Arceus, and she did not sound happy.

I breathed slowly. "Yes, I'm here. Right near Sunyshore City."

"_Good. Stay still for a moment while I fetch you."_

As per her orders, I stayed as still as possible. But even then, my skin crawled at the feeling of fading out and suddenly popping up in the pool of water in the Hall of Origin. Arceus herself stood in front of me, looking at me with a critical eye. It's strange; even though I'm bigger than she is, she still manages to terrify me on occasion.

"You are one of the first to arrive." she said finally. "Now wait here until the meeting begins."

I held in a sigh and nodded my consent, and she turned away to tend to the others who were still arriving. Looking around me, I could see Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres being interrogated about Lugia's "parenting skills" by Ho-Oh, and Mewtwo holding Mew by the tail so she couldn't dash off by herself. Giratina stood listlessly between Dialga and Palkia, who were attempting to argue around him, occasionally joined by Shaymin, who was resting on Palkia's head. The Lake Trio apparently hadn't arrived yet, Regigigas snored in the corner, and Darkrai and Cresselia were busy ignoring each other. Probably on Arceus's orders.

I sighed and sank into my pool. Bored already! Besides Dialga and Palkia's miniature argument (which Giratina was already beginning to break up), nothing of interest was going on.

As I watched the doorway, Heatran ambled in, looking just as bored as I felt. He greeted Arceus, and then plopped down in the corner beside Regigigas.

Still nothing interesting.

When would the Beast Trio get here already? They were always up to something, or at least Raikou was. Entei and Suicune were a bit more reserved, though they'd still liven up proceedings nicely. All I'd have to do was keep Raikou from accidentally electrocuting my pool again, and we'd be good to go.

I glanced at the Bird Trio. Articuno's eyes were glazed over as she listened to Ho-Oh rant. The only one of the three who was bothering to pay attention to what Ho-Oh was saying was Zapdos, who was even more uptight and serious than Arceus some days.

Ho-Oh was a good girl, she really was, but she was overprotectiveness given life. Being forced to let Lugia raise the Bird Trio while she was given Lugia's original charges, the Beast Trio, was probably the single worst moment of her life, and one she wasn't likely to forgive Lugia for any time soon. Even though it wasn't exactly his fault. Rather, it was Arceus deciding to mix things up a little for some reason none of us have ever been privy to.

And so, whenever possible, Ho-Oh made sure to smother her "babies" with affection and questions and everything else. All in all, I wasn't sure how the Beast Trio survived with her as their master.

"Ho-Oh!" Raikou's voice rang out from the doorway, and I perked up immediately. "Leave 'em alone!" He was grinning as he practically bounced in with Suicune, Entei, and Lugia behind him. "They're not paying attention to ya anyway."

Ho-Oh scowled as she looked at the three birds and saw that he was right. She reached out with a wing and cuffed all three over the heads - even Zapdos, who in all fairness actually _had_ been listening to her. "Don't ignore your elders!" she scolded.

I couldn't keep from smiling. Finally, something interesting would happen!

"Hello, Kyogre."

"Ah, hello, Suicune," I smiled, turning to face her. "What's up?"

She smiled back at me, sitting down next to my pool. "Oh, you know, the usual. Making sure the water in Johto stays pure and running from Trainers who try to catch me." She glanced back at Raikou. "He almost got caught a few months ago."

"In my defense, that little brat had been chasing me all over Johto and had a never-ending supply of Ultra Balls," Raikou shot back, making her laugh. "Clearly he had an unfair advantage."

Humans...trying to catch Legends? Oh, there were _so_ many things wrong with that scenario...

I remembered very well being captured by the idiot leader of those fools in Team Aqua. It was something I'd never thought possible, but they managed it. In my defense, however, they'd managed to get the Red Orb. That is the only thing besides Rayquaza and Arceus that has a prayer of bending me to its will, and those jackasses managed to get their filthy hands on it.

It was horrible. I hadn't _wanted_ to attack the humans, but there was no choice. Archie had found my Red Orb and captured me in an Ultra Ball, so I was stuck doing his bidding.

And of course, Groudon had been captured by the equally idiotic fools from Team Magma, and we'd ended up duking it out yet again. The only thing that kept the world from being reset again was Rayquaza, who arrived right in the nick of time to force us to come back to our senses. He also somehow managed to break the hold Archie and Maxie had over us, though how I really don't know. Regardless, I'm grateful. Thanks to him, I'm not under the thumb of some ridiculous human. And neither is Groudon.

Thank Arceus for small miracles.

"Poor kid, though," Suicune was saying. "He must have been so disappointed to have you get out again."

Raikou laughed. "Oh well. Now he'll know better for next time not to screw around with Legends."

Entei frowned at him. "Perhaps, instead of teasing eager human children and crushing their dreams, you will be more careful _not_ to be spotted next time then?"

I snorted. Raikou, careful? Not likely to happen.

"Anyway, that aside," Suicune said hastily, heading off the clash before it came, "have any of you heard from Latias recently?"

I hadn't, and I shook my head no, as did everyone else who was listening.

"Well," she went on, "I saw her just the other day, and apparently she found an egg!"

Ah, yes, Suicune and her obsession with babies. Forget type advantages, all you have to do to defeat her is hold up some kind of newborn, and she will go to _pieces_. It's kind of funny, actually, if a little creepy at the same time. Personally, I would never have to deal with the brats, and was very grateful for that fact. Babies did nothing except cry, get in the way, eat, poop, and sleep. And get on the nerves of everyone around them. No way would I ever subject myself to such a life. Nope. No way.

I sighed. "Suicune, there are eggs all over the place. This one's probably just another Wingull or something." Like Suicune, Latias adored babies. She actually had a...a _herd_, I guess you could say, of orphan youngsters that she raises in her little secret garden along with the Soul Dew. No doubt she was planning on making whatever was in this egg part of her ever-growing herd.

"I know. But she says it looks different from any other egg she's ever seen before!" Dear Arceus, someone please tie Suicune down before she starts to get excited. I mean, she's always fairly serious so it's nice to see her lighten up for once, but really.

"Latias hasn't seen every kind of egg in the world, so of course she'd come across one eventually that she hadn't..."

"Oh, let me be excited, won't you!" she snapped, and I shut up. Alright, when she put it _that_ way...

Raikou snickered, and I shot a glare at him. He's one to laugh; she so much as looks at him funny and he cowers, type advantage be damned.

"Hmm." I hummed, sinking into my pool again. "Is she bringing it with her?"

"I'm not sure. But I _hope_ so."

And what if it hatched during the proceedings and we were stuck with a crying newborn Wingull or something? Legends we may be, but there was not one of us besides maybe Latias, Ho-Oh, Lugia, and Arceus that knows a thing about babies. And Ho-Oh and Lugia would be too busy fussing over their trios and griping at each other to be of much help with this new one should it decide to hatch. Arceus would probably say Latias had to take care of it herself because she was the one who brought it in, and Latias would let it get away with everything, and-

"What's this about eggs? Are we making omelets or something?"

My eyes shot open, and I hissed through my teeth. No. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, _no-_

"Groudon!" Suicune scolded. "That's cruel! The poor thing!"

The Ruler of the Ground, aka my Worst Enemy, grinned at her and carefully ruffled the flowing purple mane on her head. "I'm only kidding, Suicune, jeez."

How had I missed his arrival? I'd been so engrossed in thinking about how much I hate children that I completely overlooked the fact that more of us were arriving, and among them, Groudon. Arceus, why did you have to create him?

WHY!

After greeting Raikou and Entei, Groudon's gaze slid to me, and he sneered. "Well, if it isn't Ms. High-and-Mighty-Queen-of-the-Oceans," he said. "You lose any weight yet?"

I reigned in the urge to hit him with a Surf attack and managed a hard smile. "Lose any ego lately?"

It was a lame comeback, and we both knew it. His smirk grew wider, and with it, my anger. It was _his_ fault that this meeting was early, his fault for provoking me like that, his fault for bloody _existing_ in the first place-

"As a matter of fact," Groudon said, "I have. Saved a couple humans from a rockslide just a few days ago, actually."

A rockslide he had probably started by his own carelessness, I was willing to bet.

I sank further into my pool, letting the water flow over me and help to calm my mounting temper. I was _not_ letting him get to me. I was better than that. I was calm and in control.

"You know, I'd be more impressed if I thought you did it out of the kindness of your heart instead of a desire to get out of trouble with Arceus for what happened a few weeks ago." I said, surfacing again.

He frowned suddenly, and there I had him. His pride is really his biggest weakness. The look he threw at me practically screamed, _"What the hell do you mean, I did it only to get out of trouble with Arceus?"_

Just like it sounds, Groudon. Just like it sounds.

I was aware of the Beast Trio glancing back and forth between us nervously, and of the sharp gaze of Rayquaza, who had also apparently arrived while I was zoning out, but I concentrated as best I could on Groudon. I had to be careful. If I provoked Groudon into attacking, or if _he_ provoked _me_ into attacking, then we would both be screwed. Rayquaza would come charging right over and kill us, and then Arceus would revive us and kill us _again_, just for the hell of it.

And so, I took a breath, letting my raging pulse go back to normal. Groudon still hadn't said a word, just continued to glare at me angrily, like I'd really insulted him or something. And if I had, whose fault was that? He'd never taken a huge interest in humans before this; had always talked about them as though they were beneath him, particularly after the incident with Team Aqua and Team Magma. What on earth would make him actually _want_ to help them for once in his life besides some kind of ulterior motive?

I also had to be careful about what I said. Though it was no great mystery that Groudon and I hated each other, he happened to be very good friends with both Raikou and Entei. I didn't want to risk alienating either of them because I couldn't resist taking a few jabs at this idiot here.

"And if I did," Groudon said finally, practically snarling the words, "I don't see how it concerns you in any way, Kyogre."

Alright, that took me aback. I can admit that. He'd never said such a thing before. It was strange; somehow I suppose I had always thought that whatever concerned him concerned me as well by virtue of our polar opposite natures. We were always undoing each other's work, always bickering, always _something_.

I struggled to compose myself. "It concerns me if you save humans only for your own selfish reasons," I snorted, watching his eyes flash at me.

"Kyogre," Entei said calmly, "I think you are overreacting."

"I am _not!_"

I winced at the raised level of my voice, which turned out to be the last straw for Rayquaza. Within a second, he was at the edge of my pool, firmly between me and Groudon. Raikou was the only one of the Beast Trio not to back away slightly, which was amusing. He's so much bigger than them that they can't help but feel intimidated, I guess.

But before anyone could get a word in, Rayquaza had hissed, "Groudon. Kyogre. That is _enough_." In other words, _"let me catch you causing any trouble, and you won't live to regret it."_

I sank further into my pool, though Groudon just turned his glare to our trio leader. What was the idiot doing? Was he _trying_ to get killed?

"Lay off it," he said. "We're just talking."

Rayquaza snorted, the force of it making ripples in my pool. He didn't believe that any more than I did. "So you say. Don't let it escalate to a battle."

I resisted the urge to say, _"Yes, sir!"_ and just sighed, bubbles floating to the surface of the water.

The sky dragon turned away from us then, nodding towards Arceus. "Be quiet now. It's about to begin." He left us then, alone with the Beast Trio.

Suicune looked at me. "Should we go?" she asked.

I nodded and floated out of my pool. With her next to me, I made my way to my spot in our ranks, on Rayquaza's left. Groudon stomped over and stood on his right. Being that we were some of the larger attendees, we were in the back while the smaller ones got to hang out in the front, closer to Arceus, who was, of course, on her pedestal. As usual.

As everyone got settled into their places, I craned my body to try and find Latias and this mystery egg of hers. Alright, I admit that I was curious as to what it looked like. I found her near the front, cradling a dark blue egg in her arms, just as Suicune had predicted. I frowned. Perhaps it was the distance, but that didn't look like any egg _I_ had ever seen either, and I had been around for several thousand years. It appeared to be transparent, with a yellow-orange yolk in the center, and outlined in glowing green.

From what I could tell, though, it looked like it would hatch into a Water-type. A good element, if I do say so myself.

"My honored brethren," Arceus began, drawing all our gazes, "it is wonderful to see you all again so soon after only three years have passed."

Not so subtly, all those gazes turned in my trio's direction. I ignored them and concentrated hard on Arceus.

I was going to get through this. I was. I was. I was going to get through this and then go home and hope the next meeting was put off because this one had been so close to the one before it. It was only a week surrounded by a bunch of the worst head cases I'd ever seen in all my years.

"I have called you all here to..."

I held off a groan and tried not to block her out. I was only moderately successful at both.

I really hated meetings with a passion.

* * *

**AN: Orbshipping, aka KyogrexGroudon, has always been a particularly favorite ship of mine. It's just too bad that there are so few fics about them...oi, anyway, hopefully you all didn't hate this first chapter TOO much XD**

**Just a note as well: I'm combining anime and game canon a bit in here. Nothing too drastic, but yeah.**

**Please review! This is my first time writing for this fandom since I was about thirteen, so I'd like to hear how you think I did!**


	2. In which Kyogre is not amused

**Sorry for the long wait, my dear readers. I've actually got about...six or so chapters already written, but I'm kind of nervous about posting them for some reason XD First Timer Syndrome, I guess. But they will all get posted in time.**

**Disclaimer: All I can really claim ownership of is each Pokémon's personality, and even then only slightly. **_**Pokémon**_** itself belongs to Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri.**

**Summary: It started out as a normal week for Kyogre, fighting with Groudon, getting into trouble with Arceus, the usual. But when a mysterious egg hatches, her life changes irreversibly...perhaps for the better. KyogreGroudon.**

**Rating: T, for violence, some language, and possible questionable situations.**

**Going Off the Deep End  
By: Bahamut PURE**

All in all, I could almost consider myself lucky.

After the last disastrous..._altercation_ I had had with Groudon, I had expected nothing less than the ultimate thrashing from Arceus as punishment. Instead, after giving us the verbal beating of our lives (which was humiliating enough, as everyone else got to watch), she announced that she had yet to think of a proper punishment, but when she did, she would tell us.

In the meantime, the week of getting to re-know each other began.

And it was torture.

Ho-Oh and Lugia had resumed squawking at each other over the unfairness of who got custody over who, with Lugia insisting he had trained the Bird Trio perfectly well, and Ho-Oh insisting she could have done better. I often wondered if these arguments ever made Raikou, Suicune, and Entei feel unwanted, but Suicune had assured me that, quite to the contrary, they found it funny.

Regigigas had once again gone to sleep, with Registeel, Regice, and Regirock all grouped around him. I had often wondered just what the heck they were all saying, and did again as they beeped and booped at each other, but never bothered to ask around. We just let them be, and they seemed happiest that way.

Mewtwo had finally allowed Mew to go free, and she immediately set after Jirachi, Celebi, and the Lake Trio. It must be hard, being that tiny and surrounded by so many larger beings. They had to be careful not to get caught underfoot. Mewtwo himself was caught in a debate with Deoxys, who had finally decided to get his overly-polite ass back down to the planet again. Whatever they were going on about must have been interesting. Then again, they insist that the most boring things are interesting.

What's the point of holing yourself up all day and poring over book after book after book? There's no adventure in that, and you miss out on just about everything life has to offer. Give me a rainy day and a storm-tossed ocean any time over _that_.

Rayquaza had slithered off to go say hello to Latias, who was still holding that weird blue egg of hers. And now I was curious too. Just what would it hatch into? Despite my earlier thoughts, I kind of hoped it would hatch soon and cause a ruckus. Maybe Arceus would be too busy fussing over it to remember that she still had to punish me and Groudon.

"You nosy little rodent!"

I turned and floated over towards this newest outburst. Unsurprisingly, it was Dialga, and the unfortunate recipient of her anger was none other than Shaymin. Shaymin's a funny one. See, she's terrified witless of Dialga and Giratina, but apparently she just _adores_ Palkia, which is nothing short of hilarious. So, during all of these meetings, she climbs up onto his shoulders (or head, or tail, or back, or _something_) and refuses to come down. It pisses Dialga off to no end, but Palkia sees no harm in it, so it continues. It doesn't help that Shaymin is also kind of a brat and likes to torment Dialga pretty mercilessly whenever Palkia is around, since he'll protect her from the Time Dragon's wrath.

"C'mon, Dia, be nice to her," Palkia scolded as I arrived. He reached up and patted Shaymin on the head, nearly flattening her Gracidea flowers. "It was just a joke."

"Just a joke!" Dialga raged. "How is calling me a 'gaudy old woman' just a joke?"

Palkia shrugged uncomfortably. Giratina watched from a few feet away, looking way too amused for the situation. What was he smirking about? It would be a damn miracle if Dialga didn't try to kill Shaymin, or at least cause an uproar.

The Space Dragon looked over at me, and I swear he looked relieved. "Oh, Kyogre!" he said. "Thank Arceus- um, I mean, hi. You alright?"

I nearly winced, but managed to stay composed. The verbal beatdown was still fresh in everybody's minds, it seemed. Great, just what I needed. "I'm fine, thanks. So, what's all the ruckus over here?"

Giratina snorted. "A trio of idiots is causing a scene because they're bored."

Surprisingly, Dialga didn't lunge at him. Though, this may have something to do with the fact that Giratina is more or less the scariest of us all, with the exception of Arceus and possibly Suicune when she's angry. No one really dares to mess with him.

Instead, Dialga gave a loud, angry snort and stomped off towards where Mewtwo and Deoxys were still debating. "Um," I said, looking at Shaymin, "in light of her current mood, you might want to leave her alone for a while. Otherwise she just might decide to kill you."

"I'm not scared of her!" Shaymin declared, though her Gracidea flowers were looking a little pale. I held in a laugh.

"So, Kyogre," Palkia said, "what was up with you and Groudon earlier? You guys looked like you were about to bite each other's faces off. And look, he's still in a pissy mood!" He gestured to Groudon, who was having a surprisingly serious-looking talk with Entei and Moltres. All three were frowning, though Moltres appeared to be giving advice of some sort. As I watched, Raikou bounded over and butted in, saying something that made all three sigh.

I snorted and turned away. "Just him being a jerk again."

"Oh, I don't know," Giratina said thoughtfully, which immediately put me on my guard. "You weren't exactly being nice to him either."

"He called me _fat_," I hissed, and Shaymin gasped. I ignored her. "I am not fat. All of this is _blubber_, which is _needed_ for me to survive deep down in the _ocean_. And I'll have you know that when I walked around town with Cresselia and Articuno as humans a couple years ago, I was considered quite _attractive_ by the human males."

So _there_.

I didn't mention that I had still been stumbling around at that point, and that I had crashed right into a fruit vendor and knocked his cart to the ground, thus ruining his entire day's stock. Cresselia had explained away my clumsiness by saying I'd been confined to a bed for over a year before from some sickness, and I was still having trouble getting used to walking again. At least that abated most of his anger, but he'd still given me quite the tongue-lashing about being more careful in the future. But after that, I'd found myself surrounded by at least six human males all wanting to help me re-learn to walk. Arceus, that was a nightmare. Lucky for me, Cresselia and Articuno had managed to chase them off, but still. Having people look at you like you're a piece of meat is not fun.

"No one's saying you're not pretty," Palkia soothed. "Because you _are_ pretty. Right, Giratina?"

"Sure, if you consider fins and blubber attractive."

"Why you slimy little..."

"Ahem," he said, "I am not slimy. Dragons do not secrete slime, nor do ghosts."

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes. _Must not Sheer Cold him to hell and back, must not murder him, at least not in front of everybody else, must remain calm..._

That is, if it was even possible to murder him. He _was_ a Ghost-type, after all.

And then I decided that was irrelevant. Screw the Ghost-typing, I'd find a way to _re_-kill him! Maybe with a vacuum cleaner...didn't they use those in those _Ghost-Type Busters_ movies Palkia thinks are just so hilarious?

I got no further in my murderous thoughts because right then there was a loud shriek from Latias. Immediately, all action ceased and everyone's eyes turned to her. She was still floating in front of Rayquaza (they sure were close these days, hm), the egg clutched tightly in her hands. Her gaze was fixed firmly on it in an expression of glee and wonder. "IT MOVED!" she shouted, nearly deafening us all. "IT'S GONNA HATCH!"

I floated towards her, craning my body to try and see the egg over everyone else, who of course chose that moment to all crowd around her at once. Pushing my way through the crowd - being big really does come in handy sometimes - I found myself right in front of her.

Unfortunately, I got no further than that. Rayquaza had wrapped himself in a ring around her, shielding her from everyone else. His tail nudged at my face, trying to force me back. Instead of paying attention as I ordinarily would, I gave him a quick glare, alighted on the ground, and peered over his coils to where Latias was still crooning over her egg.

And the thing was really moving! Already I could hear squeaks coming from inside it. As I watched, a tiny crack appeared on its side.

"What's the matter?" Latias asked worriedly when it stopped moving suddenly. "Why'd it stop?"

"Hatching is a long, arduous business." Rayquaza said, and I was shocked to hear just how _gentle_ he sounded. "It will take some time."

I became aware of a large presence behind me, but paid it no heed. It was probably just Ho-Oh or Dialga or someone else who was unable to resist their own curiosity. Everyone else stayed back, as per Rayquaza's orders.

"Suicune," I heard Raikou whine, "why can't we go look?"

"Don't crowd the poor thing!" Suicune hissed back. "It'll get scared if you do!"

"I'm not gonna crowd it," he muttered. "All I wanna do is _see_ it."

"Well, wait until it's hatched and ready to be seen!"

I let out a small chuckle. They'd never change.

"Hey, Groudon!" Raikou called then, "What's goin' on over there?"

"It's beginning to move again." I heard from directly behind me, and I immediately tensed. That voice didn't belong to Ho-Oh or Dialga... "Looks like it's getting ready to push again." I felt a warmth against my back as he leaned over me to get a closer look at the egg, which was moving once more.

Why was it so hard to breathe all of a sudden? And why hadn't I thrown a fit the instant I realized it was him behind me and not someone else? And furthermore, why was he touching me in the first place? One of his claws rested just above my left dorsal fin, supporting himself as he leaned over me, his eyes fixed on the egg.

Finally, I managed to collect my wits enough to move again. "Get off me!"

Groudon started as though I'd shocked him, then sneered down at me. "Oh, sorry. I thought you were a rug from way down there."

"Not another word." Rayquaza interrupted, glaring at us both. "I will not have you sullying a newborn's ears with one of your stupid arguments."

Instead, we watched in silence, shooting glares at each other all the while. The tension was practically tangible. My mind was in a whirl, try as I might to concentrate on the still-struggling egg. Damn it, why did he have to go and do that? It was probably just one more tactic to throw me off-guard, now that I thought of it...stupid Groudon. I'd get him back later.

"Come on, little one," Latias cooed. "You're nearly there. Come on. Come on. Almost there, little one...almost there."

Was hatching really that difficult? This thing was taking an obscene amount of time to break out of its egg. I'd seen other hatchings before, and none of them ever seemed to take as long as this one did. On and on it dragged, until nearly everyone else was getting bored with the proceedings.

Against Suicune's earlier wishes, Raikou wandered over and poked his head over Rayquaza's coils. "It's still not done yet?" he whined. "When's it gonna come out already?"

"It will come out," Rayquaza said icily, "when it is good and ready to come out. Go away. This is none of your business."

"Sheesh, it was just a question..." Raikou ambled back to Suicune and Entei, grumbling.

I had to admit that I agreed with him. This _was_ taking forever. At this rate, we'd still be here come morning. Maybe the kid inside was shy.

But then, _finally_, the top of the eggshell popped off, shooting up and nearly hitting Rayquaza in the nose. While this sight ordinarily would have had me in hysterics, I was too busy staring wide-eyed at the thing that was now peering back at me with even wider eyes.

"Shit," Groudon swore next to me.

"Mana...Manaphy?" it said, in what was the most pitiful voice I'd ever heard in my life.

* * *

**AN: Eh, sorry for the short-ness of this chapter, though ****I hope my writing is satisfactory. Kyogre's POV is a surprising amount of fun to narrate from, though I hope she isn't too annoying... *sweats* At this point she is pretty immature, which _was_ intentional. One of the many things that makes Orbshipping so interesting to me is the amount of...growth, I suppose, both sides will have to go through to reach a friendly point. So far I'm having a lot of fun writing about it, so hopefully when we get to it in here you'll enjoy it too.**

**Shaymin's fear of Dialga and Giratina comes from the movie **_**Giratina and the Sky Warrior**_**, by the way****. I imagine being shoved into the middle of a battle between two pissed-off dragons a couple times in rapid succession would be enough to leave a lasting impression on **_**anyone**_**, much less a tiny little thing like Shaymin.**

**_Ghost-Type Busters_ is a not-so-subtle shout-out / parody of one of the greater achievements of cinema, _Ghostbusters_. It's probably the only time a giant marshmallow ghost-thing could ever possibly make sense, and I get major giggles out of imagining a giant Gengar version of it.**

**Ahaha, yeah. Please review and tell me what you think so far!**


	3. In which Giratina makes things worse

**Ahaha...so here is the third chapter! Hopefully you're not all completely bored by now XD (And RandomGuy301, I actually agree with your assessment, so thank you for telling it to me straight up.)**

**Um, as for adding in the Gen V Legendaries...we'll see, I guess. I started this early last year before I knew anything about them, which is why they're so conspicuously absent, although I'd certainly love to put them in here. So we shall see! If I find a place where I can put them in without jostling things up too much, then I will.**

**Disclaimer: All I can really claim ownership of is each Pokémon's personality, and even then only slightly. **_**Pokémon**_** itself belongs to Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri. Anything else you don't recognize as canon is most likely mine, however.**

**Summary: It started out as a normal week for Kyogre, fighting with Groudon, getting into trouble with Arceus, the usual. But when a mysterious egg hatches, her life changes irreversibly...perhaps for the better. KyogreGroudon.**

**Going Off the Deep End  
By: Bahamut PURE**

"Manaphy?" I repeated. Manaphy? This was new. At least to me, it was.

"Manaphy?" Groudon asked at the same time.

The thing continued peering up at me with those pitiful eyes, now practically swimming with tears. It was a Water-type, that much was obvious, with that soft blue body (no wonder it had such a hard time breaking out of its shell). Its eyes were big and blue, ringed with yellow and with two more yellow dots above each eye. On its chest was a red gem, with another yellow dot right below it. Two long antennae extended from its head, and its arms seemed to be longer than its body.

"What...is it?" I asked.

"I would assume it is a Manaphy," Rayquaza said dryly, uncurling himself from around Latias and the baby, "and that it is a Water-type much like yourself."

"I think he likes you, Kyogre!" Latias said, holding the thing out to me. I backed up, hitting Groudon in the legs. He grunted but didn't move, instead placing his claws on my back and effectively trapping me there. "Groudon, get your filthy claws off of me or I'll Sheer Cold you into oblivion!"

In answer, he gave me a light shove forward. I had been floating again, and not expecting the shove, I practically flew forward, almost hitting Latias. Instantly, Rayquaza's tail shot out and smacked me in the face, stopping me right in my tracks. I backed off and brought my flippers up to feel my aching snout. As expected, a small trickle of blood was steadily making its way out of my right nostril.

"You jerk! That hurt!"

"You almost hit the baby," he replied tonelessly. "Next time, be prepared when someone pushes you."

Groudon snorted, "I was just letting her get a better look at the kid."

"Yeah, and almost killed us both!" I snapped back.

"Hey, I was doing as you told me to do. You never said anything about how it had to happen."

Don't you just hate it when people use loopholes to get around you?

"You know what I meant! And it was _not_ to push me onto a helpless baby! I could have _killed_ it, you imbecile!"

I stopped ranting then, as the baby Manaphy opened its mouth and let out the loudest damn shriek I have ever heard. Not even Arceus at her worst could match this thing's screaming. Latias winced and held it out to me again. "Here, take him!"

"What? Why me? I just made it cry!"

"Yes, and he won't be afraid of you anymore if you show him that you're going to be nice to him in the future!"

I also hate logic.

Gingerly, I allowed her to place it in my flipper, and held it up to my eyes. It quieted after a moment, staring back at me with big blue eyes that seemed to..._smile_ at me. Well, what was its problem? Jeez, this thing was even more bipolar than Deoxys...

I was interrupted by Rayquaza softly laughing, which is in and of itself a shock. Rayquaza _never_ laughs. He's always serious. The only time he lightens up is around Latias, and even then, it's only slightly. The only reason I can tell is because he, Groudon, and I grew up together as a trio.

"What...what is so funny?" I asked, bewildered.

He smirked at me. "It seems our little friend does indeed like you, Kyogre."

"Yeah, so?"

He shook his head. "It's just funny."

How was a baby taking a liking to me funny? He really needs to get his head checked...

And then, the strangest sound I had ever heard distracted my attention.

I stared down at the Manaphy in my flipper. Did it just...did it just _giggle_ at me?

As I stared at it, it raised one stubby arm to its face and made the same noise. Yes, that was definitely a giggle. The little snot was _laughing_ at me! At me! No one laughs at _Kyogre_ and gets away with it!

Perhaps sensing that I was about to dump the thing on the ground, Latias said, "Why don't you keep him with you for a while, Kyogre? He obviously likes you, and he's not crying anymore."

I frowned at her. "No. Take it back." I extended my flipper and dumped the baby back into her arms. As soon as I did this, its mouth wobbled and its eyes filled with tears faster than I could process. I blinked. What was its problem? It was back where it belonged, with Latias. She'd take it home and raise it along with all her other little orphans, and they'd be oh-so-happy together.

"Kyogre..." she said nervously.

"What?"

"I think he's gonna..."

Whatever she was going to say was drowned out when the thing opened its mouth and _screamed_ at the top of its lungs. The blast of sound that hit all four of us then...Arceus, and I thought listening to Explouds during mating season was bad? This had to be at least a thousand times worse! How was that thing managing to make so much bloody noise?

Of course, the racket drew the attention of everybody else, who all dashed back into the main Hall to see what the commotion was about.

"What is that?"

"I think it's a baby!"

"Is it?"

"Doesn't look like any baby _I've_ ever seen before..."

"Is it a new species?"

"What kind is it?"

"Dia-chan, LOOK! The egg hatched!"

"Make it stop screaming! My ears are bleeding!"

"KYOGRE!" Rayquaza howled over the uproar. "TAKE THIS THING BACK AND MAKE IT STOP OR I'LL _KILL_ YOU!"

With a motivator like that, who in their right mind would refuse? As quickly as I could without squashing the thing, I grabbed it from Latias and held it to my face again. OK, little nuisance, you can stop screeching now so Rayquaza doesn't decide to just kill me anyway!

After a moment of more screaming and yelling, the thing opened its eyes and saw me. As soon as it did, the screams stopped, and it clapped its stubby arms together and giggled again. Little snot! Since when was this funny?

OK...now to get rid of it. Again. I tentatively held it out to Latias again, but as soon as it lost contact with me, it let out a howl. I snatched it back, cutting it off, only to reach out again. This process was repeated several times, and I grew more desperate each time. Why wouldn't this thing just go back to Latias already?

I heard a snicker behind me as I held the thing to my snout, and turned around to glare at Groudon. He apparently had the audacity to _laugh_ at me while I was suffering. This wasn't going to be tolerated. As soon as I figured out a way to get this Manaphy-thing away from me without it having a fit afterwards, I was going to Sheer Cold him to hell. Giratina could drag him back later. Just so long as he got the message.

Suicune chose that moment to bound over, looking excited. "Oh, it hatched! He's got quite the pair of lungs, doesn't he, Kyogre? And hey, how come you're holding him and not Latias? Did something happen?"

"Hell if I know," I grumbled, wincing when the thing poked my face, dangerously close to my nostril. "Don't do that." I shook it lightly, and it giggled some more.

For the love of Arceus! I was not a toy for some stupid newborn to play with and scream at!

Suicune laughed. See, when she laughs, she makes it sound like she's not laughing _at_ me, but rather _with_ me, and...yeah, that's lame. But it's the truth. Suicune is just a nice girl. It's hard to be insulted by her. Raikou is pretty much the only one who she intentionally insults, and that's only when he's gone and done something stupid or reckless again. Which is pretty much all the time, but yeah. She's sweet. "He likes you."

"Will you people stop saying that? I get that it likes me already! Now all I have to do is get it away from me!"

I shook my flipper lightly, trying to get it off, but it clung to my digits like a Munchlax to an apple and wouldn't let go. I continued shaking it, harder now, but still it hung on, giggling madly. Stupid thing! Let go!

"Let go of me!" I snapped, shaking it harder than ever now. All this got me was a hysterically laughing Manaphy that was still hanging on tight to my flipper.

"Kyogre, stop! You're going to hurt him!" Latias cried, rushing over and waving her hands in front of my face. I snarled at her.

"Make it let go, then!"

"It doesn't look like he _wants_ to let go," Suicune observed.

Thank you, Captain Obvious! Thanks for pointing that out, since I totally missed it on my own!

"Ohoho, what is _this?_"

Oh no. Not him. Anyone but him. Please, Arceus, I know I piss you off on a regular basis, but _please_...anyone but him-

Giratina ambled up out of the crowd, smirking wider than I'd thought possible. He looked way too amused by the situation, which just made me scowl harder. I saw nothing funny about all this in the least.

"So, Kyogre, when did you take up mothering little lost orphans?"

I blinked, taken aback. Groudon started to laugh again. "Mother? Whoa, there's no mothering going on here. What _is_ going on is this little thing not wanting to let go of me and go back to Latias, where it _belongs_."

Giratina laughed. "You're obviously missing the point. The thing, as you call it, thinks you're its mother. Am I correct in assuming it was facing her when it was born?" he shot at Latias, who nodded. He turned back to me. "There you go. It thinks you're Mom." He smirked. "I must say, this is one interesting development. I never foresaw this at all."

I gaped at him. "I am _not_ going to be raising this thing! I'm not its mother!"

"What's all this noise about?" Arceus's voice asked tiredly.

The crowd of other Legends parted to let her through. She _did_ look rather exhausted, I noticed guiltily. Out of all of us, she does the most work and gets the least amount of rest. I pity her sometimes. I really do. It has to suck being God sometimes.

She motioned for me to show her what I was holding, and I did so obediently. The Manaphy in my flipper whimpered when I took it away from my face, but quieted instantly under Arceus's gaze. She looked shocked for a moment, then her gaze hardened as she looked at me. "Where did you get this?"

"It was in that egg Latias had!" I said defensively. "It hatched not half an hour ago, and now it won't get off me. Why, do you know it?"

She nodded. "This is a Manaphy, as you doubtless already know." She eyed it critically, and it started to shiver. "Like Latias and Latios, there is more than one...or used to be, anyway. I thought they'd all been hunted to extinction years ago. They were never very populous to begin with...and this is very likely the only one left in existence."

So this thing was legitimate? And it was also a Legend like the rest of us? I assumed so, anyway, as she'd compared it to our Latias and Latios (rest his soul). "Hunted...to extinction?" Suicune asked, coming forward. "What do you mean by that, Arceus-sama?"

"Unfortunately, they were a rather favorite snack of Sharpedos and Tentacruels." Arceus replied. "And being rather small and delicate, obviously didn't stand much of a chance, particularly not the younger ones. Also unfortunately, I was not made aware of the situation until it was too late."

Suicune shuddered disgustedly. "Sharpedos and Tentacruels _ate_ them to extinction?"

Pretty much. Which is sort of horrible to think about. But such is life everywhere. Stronger things survive, and weaker things don't.

Raikou shouldered his way through the crowd and stood up on his hind legs, leaning his front paws on my flipper as he craned his neck to get a look at the thing I held. "It's tiny!" he remarked.

"That's usually the case with newborns, yes," Arceus sighed. She looked at me. "What is the situation here? What was all that screaming earlier about?"

"Well, you see-"

"You see, Arceus-sama," Giratina butted in, cutting me off. I glared at him, but he just winked at me and kept talking. "This little Manaphy seems to have mistaken our dear Kyogre for its female progenitor, and simply refuses to be parted from her. See how it shakes just being held away from her? It's afraid you or Raikou will try to take it away from her again."

Arceus, to her credit, just looked perplexed. "What."

"In other words," he said triumphantly, "it thinks she's its mother."

"It does _not!_" I bellowed at him. "I am _not_ its mother, and it doesn't think so!"

"So sure about that?" Giratina shot back. "Look at the way it looks at you. It trusts you completely. The only time I've seen such an expression is when a baby lays eyes upon its mother or father."

He was still looking way too pleased for the proceedings. Gah! I'd completely forgotten about his prankster side. It comes out so rarely in regards to me that I hadn't taken it into account. Of course he'd use this as an opportunity for entertainment and milk it for all it was worth. I should have seen this coming. I had to head him off before it got any worse and I was stuck with this thing forever.

"Arceus-sama," I said, "regardless, wouldn't this thing be better off with Latias? I live in the ocean alongside all the things that hunted the rest of its species to extinction. With her, it would be in a safer location and less likely to get eaten or killed." Not to mention she actually knew a thing or two about babies. I didn't.

"That is true," Arceus mused, to my relief. "However..." Aaaand my relief faded. "It is a sea dweller. Latias's garden does not have a saltwater lake, am I right, Latias?"

"That's right, Arceus-sama," Latias said, nodding eagerly. "It's only a little freshwater pond."

No, no, no, no! Latias, stop agreeing with her! Why are you so happy about this thing wanting to stay with me? Don't you want it? You found its egg, for crying out loud! So take it back and have cute little adventures together in your garden!

I hated to admit it, but I was horrified. This meeting was certainly not turning out well for me. Not only was it an early meeting, but I'd gotten screamed at by Arceus and threatened with some kind of punishment right away. And now it looked like I was going to be stuck raising the last member of an extremely rare and endangered species, who by the way was a complete and total clingy nuisance. Not good.

It only got worse when Arceus looked at me with an expression that I can only describe as thoughtful. That was never a good look. It meant she was contemplating some new idea, which usually meant a huge amount of work and stress for the rest of us. Only this time, I'd be the only one being put through it all.

"I have an idea," she said, "for your punishment, Kyogre. Since you seem so opposed to raising this child, I've decided that despite your protests, you _will_ raise him. And it will be done properly." She smiled smugly. "Perhaps a few years of chasing after a baby will keep you from resetting the world again."

The explosion happened immediately. "WHAT!"

"Don't argue with me, Kyogre," she said warningly. "I've made my decision."

I sputtered, trying to think of a way to get her to change her mind, but it was no use. She'd made up her mind, and now that she absolutely knew how I felt about it, she wasn't going to let me off the hook. But there was still one other thing to address.

"What about _him?_" I snapped, pointing at Groudon. He stiffened, scowling at me. Yes, I'd gone and reminded Arceus that he still needed to be punished as well, but can you blame me? It wouldn't be fair to only punish me and let him get off completely free. Especially since _he_ was the one who started all this in the first place!

Arceus frowned at him. The wheels were once again turning in her head, I was pleased to see, only this time it was directed at Groudon. "Yes, thank you for reminding me, Kyogre. Groudon, what _are_ we going to do with you?"

Groudon remained silent, switching his glower from me to her. I had no doubt that he was silently cursing me for reminding her of his part in all this, but I didn't care. In a roundabout way, it was his fault that I now had to take care of this Manaphy thing (that still refused to let go of my flipper), and I was going to make sure he suffered as much as I would suffer.

It soon became clear, however, that Arceus had no idea how to punish him. Which in itself was odd, because she usually knows exactly what to do to get back at all of us for any misdeeds. But when it came to Groudon and I, we'd pissed her off so many times that she'd already exhausted all the ways to punish us, apparently. Or, all the ways to punish Groudon, anyway. Me, on the other hand, I'd discovered a new way to punish myself.

Stupid Manaphy thing. Stop cooing at me like that! I'm not your mother!

Anyway, Arceus debated with herself for a while, snapping at Raikou when he suggested throwing Groudon into the middle of the ocean and making him swim back to shore. That would be a good one (and it would be hilarious to watch), but unfortunately for me, Groudon was and still is incapable of swimming. He's too heavy and lacks the shape for it. Primarily, he is a creature of the land with no skill whatsoever for when it comes to the water.

Therefore, throwing him into the middle of the ocean and making him swim back to shore would only result in him drowning. Which, of course, Arceus would not tolerate.

Finally, Giratina spoke up.

"Arceus-sama," he said, leering at her. "Why not let him be my...assistant for a while? It gets rather lonely in the Distortion World, you see, and I could use the company. Not to mention the help."

Arceus got that thoughtful look on her face again, making Giratina grin. He's the only one that enjoys her sadism, probably because it's never directed at him. Never has been, as far as I can remember, though there was a rumor that she had banished him to the Distortion World because he was too violent to live in this one. But that was before I was born, and Arceus and the Creation Trio refused to even discuss it, so there was no real way to find out if it was true. Anyway, she was seriously considering his offer, and Groudon was shivering, looking disturbed. A week or more in the Distortion World with Giratina? It would be sheer hell, torture. And having to be Giratina's assistant for that time? Even worse. Not only does he oversee the balance between the two worlds, he also makes sure the souls of the dead make it over to the other side, and supposedly devours the worst of them. It's damn creepy, so I couldn't really blame Groudon for looking like he was about to go to his own execution.

"...alright." Arceus said finally, and Giratina laughed happily. "Alright, yes, that sounds good." She looked at Groudon, who gulped. While I was glad to see the heat getting turned on to him instead of me, I couldn't help but feel slightly bad for him. At least I got to stay in my natural habitat. "Groudon, you will accompany Giratina to the Distortion World and assist him in his duties for...two weeks."

Two weeks! That was it? I'd be dealing with this Manaphy thing for _years_, and he gets off after two weeks? How was that fair?

"At the end of fourteen days, he will escort you back to your domain. Hopefully that will be enough for you to learn your lesson."

To be honest, just the _prospect_ of having to spend any amount of time with Giratina in the Distortion World was enough to make _anyone_ learn their lesson. As was the mere prospect of wasting my life caring for a whiny baby. But that wasn't good enough for Arceus. No, she was going to make both of us go through our punishments until they were over.

Sometimes, I really wanted to hate Arceus for being able to impose whatever punishments and the like she wanted on us. After all, she's our goddess. She can do whatever she wants. Except...she actually does work herself practically to death keeping the world in balance, and she tries her best to be fair when it comes to us. And should she find herself to be in error, she punishes herself. Usually by hitting her head against the wall a couple hundred times, but the sentiment is still there.

But yeah, that was really the only thing that kept me from completely hating her for putting me through this.

Groudon nodded, and I was pleased to see that his red coloring was now a little paler than normal. So he was scared. Good. He had every right to be, and I would have been shocked if he weren't.

After a few more minutes of arguing with Giratina and lecturing me on how to treat babies, Arceus declared the meeting officially over. "What, no week of stupid activities?" Raikou asked, surprised. I have to admit that I was surprised too, and a little annoyed. I'd been planning on using the week to get help from Latias or Ho-Oh or whoever learning how to take care of babies. But once again, my plans were foiled.

"No." Arceus replied in answer to Raikou's question. "I'm sick of all of you, and Groudon and Kyogre both have things to do." Like be tortured for a minimum of fourteen days? "The next meeting will take place at the usual time, two years from now. All of you be prepared for it, and woe betide anyone who is late or decides not to show."

As the crowd began to disperse, some asking Arceus for help getting back to their respective homes, I looked at Rayquaza and Latias. She was looking at the baby I still held in one flipper, and he nudged her with his tail when she didn't move. Latias jumped, then looked at him and smiled. To my surprise, something that oddly resembled a blush appeared on Rayquaza's face, but it was gone within the space of a second.

Had I really seen that?

Maybe.

They took off together, and I looked down at the baby in my flipper. I was mildly surprised to see that at some point it had fallen asleep, curled up in my flipper's palm (but still clutching one of my digits like a vice). Now that I thought about it, the thing wasn't so bad once it was asleep. And didn't babies have to take a lot of naps? Maybe this wouldn't be such a torture after all...

Meanwhile, Giratina had grabbed Groudon with a sadistic grin, and they both faded out as I watched. Before fading, Groudon shot me a look. I couldn't decipher that look; it was dark and heated and please-save-me all at once, and I found myself gritting my teeth against the sudden urge to try and help him. No. If I was going to be forced to go through babysitting this thing, then by Arceus he was going to go through with his part of the deal as well.

Lugia forced the Beast Trio to climb onto his back, claiming they needed to spend some "fatherly bonding time" with him before they were forced to endure Ho-Oh's company again, while Ho-Oh herself seethed behind them and the Bird Trio watched her nervously. Darkrai and Cresselia (still ignoring each other, I saw) floated out the end of the Hall, going in opposite directions once they were back in the sunshine. Latias shot out after them, and after ordering me to behave myself and take care of my new charge, Rayquaza followed suit.

Mewtwo once again had Mew (who was enthusiastically waving goodbye to the Lake Trio, Jirachi, and Celebi) by the tail, and was holding onto her while still arguing with Deoxys about something nobody really cared about. They floated out together, Mew zipping around their heads like some kind of pink, demented balloon, and were gone.

I sighed and got in line to be teleported back down to the ocean by Arceus.

_Hm, I wonder if this thing knows how to swim..._

* * *

**AN: Another slightly short one because this is the other half of the original Chapter Two! I really like Giratina. He's fun to write.**

**Yes, the hatching process is more, um, conventional with real-world mechanics than what is traditionally shown in the games and anime. The glowy thing where the egg just magically morphs into a ****Pokémon is cool and all, but for this fic, I thought it was better to take a slightly more realistic approach for when it comes to hatching. And half the excitement of waiting for something to hatch is watching the eggshell crack for the first time, I admit.**

**I, um, obviously also took some liberties with Manaphy's backstory. Hopefully it's believable... *sweats* Er, and yes, I did take Heart Swap into account. However, a Manaphy doesn't learn that move until it's somewhere around level 80, so...my assumption is that not too many of them knew that move, the newborn Manaphy from the one movie not withstanding.**

**Hopefully this is progressing at a decent rate, and if you have any suggestions or something of the like, I'd be happy to hear them.**

**Review, please!**


	4. In which Kyogre learns the art of Mama

**Early chapter this time! Yup. I got done editing and going over this one, so while I clean up the next couple chapters, I decided to be nice and post this one quite a bit earlier than originally planned. Hope you enjoy :) And a Happy Fourth of July to you all as well!**

**Disclaimer: All I can really claim ownership of is each Pokémon's personality, and even then only slightly. **_**Pokémon**_** itself belongs to Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri. Anything you don't recognize as canon most likely belongs to me, however.**

**Summary: It started out as a normal week for Kyogre, fighting with Groudon, getting into trouble with Arceus, the usual. But when a mysterious egg hatches, her life changes irreversibly...perhaps for the better. KyogreGroudon.**

**Going Off the Deep End  
By: Bahamut PURE**

The next few weeks were absolute torture.

I couldn't leave that brat of mine alone for two seconds without it having a huge fit and screaming loud enough to wake the whole ocean. The worst part was hunting. Being a meat eater and being as big as I am means that I naturally have to eat a lot, though I also eat a lot of seaweed and not just meat.

The thing was a huge hindrance for when it came to hunting. I allowed it to hang onto my dorsal fins while I searched for food, but it made so much noise giggling and laughing and yelling "MAMA!" at me that it alerted my prey to our presence, and catching anything was one hell of a task. And when I finally managed to catch a nice-sized Sharpedo, drag it to the surface, and chew it up, the thing wiggled onto my flipper and gave me a pitiful look. I sighed and gave it some of my chewed-up Sharpedo.

You might think that this is gross, but it's how things go. That first time, I wasn't sure if my charge was old enough to digest things on its own yet, or if it had any notion of chewing whatsoever. All sorts of things. After looking at my offering dubiously for a second, it finally deemed to take a bite.

And promptly threw up all over my flipper.

That was how I figured out that the thing was a vegetarian.

Lucky for me, it adored seaweed, and we both gorged on the stuff for well over half an hour till we were both full. And then it curled up on my back and went to sleep again.

Learning to take care of the thing was difficult. I was used to doing whatever I wanted and following my impulses, but now I had to learn to alter my schedule to its needs. I had to wake up earlier because if I didn't, it would start squalling for food and be in a bad mood the rest of the morning. It took several short naps a day, and during that time, I had to either remain completely still or swim around slowly and gently. Going at my usual pace rocked it about and woke it up, and it would start yelling again.

Nor could I sing very often anymore, because more often than not it would start trying to sing _with_ me. Very loudly and off-key, as well as totally off-beat, which would throw _me_ off in turn. And so, I was reduced to only singing when it slept, and even then I had to do it _quietly_, because otherwise it would wake up and, you guessed it, start yelling. This was one of the most distressing things about my new situation. Singing came naturally to me, being a whale, and it was a soothing activity that let me relieve stress without flying off the handle. Not being able to do it as much as normal did not make me very happy.

Manaphy soon developed a strange obsession with putting things in its mouth and chewing on them. I later learned from Ho-Oh that this is a common thing for babies, but it terrified me the first time I glanced back at my charge and found it attempting to gnaw on the shell of a very annoyed-looking Kingler that had crawled up onto my back while I was resting on the sea floor. According to Ho-Oh, it was because the baby was beginning to teethe, which was apparently painful and gave it the urge to chew on things to relieve the pain, but I wasn't so sure. After being told all this, I had forced the thing to open its mouth for me so I could look at it, but I found no indication of growing teeth whatsoever.

Instead, I became sure that my baby just had no other way of figuring out what something was beyond trying to taste it. Or maybe it just liked chewing on things. I didn't know.

After apologizing to the Kingler and shaking him off, I decided it would be a good idea to get some chew toys for my baby to gnaw on instead of random and possibly dangerous objects, including other Pokémon. Lucky for me, Ho-Oh had a bunch left over from when Raikou, Suicune, and Entei were still young and before she and Lugia were forced to trade charges, and she gave me as many as I wanted. And so it became common for me to be going about my business with the Manaphy that refused to be parted from me chewing on a rubber bone while riding on my back and clutching one of my dorsal fins with its free hand.

One thing I also tried to get out of the way right off the bat was the issue of spoiling. I refused to give the thing whatever it wanted, but within reason. If it wanted to take a closer look at something and "asked" nicely (by way of "Mama!" and pointing at whatever it was that caught its interest) and there was no other pressing business to take care of, then I would swim closer to the object in question and allow my charge to take a few minutes and examine it. And then we'd be on our way.

I let it eat however much as it wanted at first, but when it got sick three times in a row from overeating, I saw that it obviously had no self-control when it came to food, and quickly figured out how much food would be sufficient to keep it properly nourished but not overfed. Naps were the easiest business, but even those were annoying.

My main area of residence is around the Hoenn region, but I am also the ruler of the sea. This means I have to watch over everything in it, and several times a week, I get reports, complaints, questions, what-have-you from various residents of the ocean. And several times, I had to either end these sessions early or cancel them altogether because my charge decided to fall asleep and would wake up and start crying should we be too loud.

Naturally, this did nothing for my reputation. No one really dared mock me openly, but I heard things nonetheless. Unsurprisingly, many of my "subjects" seemed to be under the impression that I was going soft and neglecting my duties to cater to the whims of a spoiled baby. In response, I "let slip" to a Gorebyss that Arceus had assigned me the task of raising and protecting the last member of a very rare and endangered species, and within three days, the tune changed from _"Kyogre is neglecting her duties because of that spoilt brat!"_ to _"Oh, Kyogre is so kind to raise that poor orphan baby as her own, isn't she?"_

Yeah, whatever. As soon as this thing was grown up enough to fend for itself, it was outta here.

I also spent a while wondering about Groudon and how he was doing. I was fairly sure that he wasn't having a good time being Giratina's assistant, but I was also sure that he could handle it. He'd always been tough, although I'd rather have died than let him know. Instead, I occupied myself with wondering how messed up in the head he would be once he was released.

* * *

Over the first few weeks, I got several visits from Latias, who was almost always accompanied by Rayquaza. And thank Arceus for their visits, because Latias's advice was invaluable. She gave me several tips for dealing with tantrums and the like, as well as discipline without being cruel.

"Just be like Rayquaza," she laughed, reaching out and tapping his coils with one tiny hand. "He managed to keep you and Groudon in line for centuries and you both turned out pretty good."

"Sometimes I wonder," Rayquaza muttered, but when he looked at her, he actually smiled.

At that point, I became convinced that there was something going on there. It was difficult to tell with Latias, as I didn't know her as well as Rayquaza, but I'd been around Rayquaza long enough to know when something was going on with him. At the very least, he was fond of Latias, which didn't really come as a surprise. It's hard to dislike Latias. She's such a naturally sweet and goodhearted girl that liking her is practically mandatory. Even after the death of her brother, she still kept that kind, cheerful nature that makes her who she is.

"Oh yeah!" Latias said, "Groudon came back last night!"

He had, had he? Doing some quick thinking, I saw that she was right. Today was the fifteenth day, so Giratina would have released him some time yesterday. I'd been so wrapped up trying to take care of Manaphy that I'd completely missed it. "How is he doing?"

"A little shaky, but OK for the most part!" she chirped. "You should go see him. It would probably make him feel a little better if you went and said hello!"

I gave her a skeptical look. While it would be a polite gesture, I was pretty sure the last thing Groudon would want after what was probably the worst experience of his life was to see me, and I told her so. "What, and traumatize him further? No, thanks. Besides, I'm behind enough on my work as it is, thanks to this one." I gestured to the tiny blue thing perched on my head and gazing curiously at Rayquaza.

Said sky dragon frowned at me disapprovingly. "Go and see him, Kyogre." he said. "At the very least, it will show him that you are attempting to be polite."

No, it would probably make it look like I was just going over to see how bad he was doing and to gloat about it, but...that was a direct order. And one does not disobey orders from Rayquaza and expect to live afterwards.

I sighed. "You're the boss."

* * *

Sometimes I wondered what I had done to piss off the world so much. Besides resetting it a couple times, of course.

I managed to make it to the Cave of Origin within the hour. As expected, Groudon was there. What I _didn't_ expect was for him to be dead asleep.

I lifted myself out of the water and floated slowly towards him, quietly as possible. Thankfully, the thing wasn't making a sound either. It seemed it understood that I was trying to be silent and not wake him up. That way, I could tell Rayquaza that well, I _had_ gone to see Groudon, but he'd been asleep and seeing that, I'd decided to just come back later. But for some reason, I didn't leave immediately.

The way Groudon slept has always amused me, and now was no different. He sleeps on his stomach, legs splayed out on either side of himself, and arms supporting his head. He also snores amazingly loud, which often made me wonder how anything else in this system of caves ever managed to sleep. Maybe they all cleared out once they heard the snores start.

Surprisingly, he didn't look so fierce as he usually did right now. I'd seen him sleep before, but even then, he'd managed to have a scowl in place, and looked every inch the fierce land ruler he is. Right now, he just looked exhausted and strangely...at peace. It was very intriguing, and I wanted to know just what was making him so content all of a sudden.

"Mama! Hungwee!" my charge chose that moment to belt at the top of its lungs.

Groudon has also always been a light sleeper, and when the thing yelled that out, he let out a roar and bolted up, whirling around and blinking sleepily. His skin immediately heated up in an Overheat attack, and I scrambled backwards before either me or the thing were harmed by it. Yes, I'm a Water-type and thus Fire-type attacks don't do too much damage to me, but damn if they don't still hurt like a bitch. And...I admit I didn't want Manaphy to get hurt either, if only to keep it from screaming again.

"Kyogre?" Groudon asked confusedly. "What're you doin' here?" His voice was slurred; wow, he really must have been exhausted.

I willed my heart to slow down now that I knew I wasn't about to get roasted. "Um, nothing, just, uh...checking on you. Not because I want to, though! Rayquaza made me."

He just continued to stare at me blearily before a wide smile spread across his face, which just surprised me more than ever. What was he smiling about? If I'd found my worst enemy standing over me while I slept, I certainly wouldn't have been _smiling_. Idiot... "Nah, think 'm dreamin' again..."

I almost burst out laughing at this. He thought he was _dreaming_ about me? If anything, his dreams would be about finally defeating me once and for all and spreading the land masses over my oceans. Not about me coming to visit him.

"I assure you that this is real, Groudon. Pinch yourself if you don't believe me. And before you ask, let me say that this is Rayquaza's fault. He threatened me under pain of death to come see how you were doing, and there, I've done it. So...how _are_ you doing?"

He blinked a few more times before shrugging. OK, that either meant he thought he was still dreaming and was just humoring the dream version of me, or he was just too tired to care about the sarcasm. "Tired. I'm tellin' you, Ky, don't ever go to the Distortion World. It's terrible there. Gravity's all weird, and the water...you wouldn't like it. 'S not safe. Promise you won't ever go there...?"

For a moment, I couldn't answer him. _"Ky"?_ He'd never called me that before. Mainly, the ones who called me that were Suicune, Raikou, Mew, Azelf, and Cresselia. A.K.A., my _friends_. Groudon was most certainly _not_ my friend, and because of that I couldn't begin to fathom why he would call me by my nickname.

"Um..." I said. "Uh...I won't...?" Why the hell was he being so nice to me?

"Mama!" the thing on my head yelled. "HUNGWEE!"

Rough translation: _"Gimme something to eat, or I'll scream loud enough to blow out your eardrums!"_

"OK, OK!" I rolled my eyes, glaring at the ceiling. "I'll get you some food! Just be patient!"

"HUNGWEE!"

Groudon blinked rapidly, as if just realizing that oh, hey, his worst enemy and her spoilt brat of an adopted baby were in his cave and that this was not a dream. "Kyogre?" he asked confusedly. "What are _you_ doing here?"

I rolled my eyes, doing my best to ignore the thing on my head, which was now beginning to ache. "I already _told_ you, moron. I'm here to check on you because Rayquaza will kill me if I don't."

He stared at me. "This isn't a dream?"

I resisted the urge to smack my forehead and send my charge flying at the same time. Oh, honestly! Hadn't we already been through this? "No! It's not a dream! And now that I know you're fine and stupid as ever, can I go?"

And now he scowled at me. Yeah, that was more like the Groudon I knew and hated...

"MAMA!" the thing screamed. "I HUNGWEE!"

Oh Arceus...why...

Groudon rolled his eyes now, gesturing at the water behind me. I'll never understand why someone who can't swim has a large pool of water leading to the ocean outside in his home. Really. "Better go find your brat some food, Kyogre," he said.

"He's not a brat!" I snapped. It was almost second nature to contradict everything Groudon said, despite this latest thing being more or less true. "He hasn't eaten anything all day, and it's getting late because instead of getting him food, I was stuck swimming all the way over here to check on _your_ lazy ass!"

"I am not lazy!" he shouted back at me. We were getting into one of our famous arguments, but at that point I didn't really care. The past two weeks had been moderately restful knowing that I wouldn't accidentally run into him, and I was currently remembering all the reasons I had to dislike him. Chief among them his own hate for me. "If you knew the _work_ I had to do for that depraved worm Giratina, it'd curl your tail! And who was the one who saved Slateport the other week from your tidal wave? Certainly not you!"

I bristled. "If you hadn't avoided it, then it wouldn't have gotten so close to the city in the first place!"

"So now I'm not allowed to dodge attacks that might kill me?" He laughed mockingly, which just fueled my rage even more. But then, the fire in his eyes went out, and he sighed as the exhaustion seemed to catch up to him. He sat, getting ready to lay back down again. "I'm too tired to deal with you right now," he mumbled. "Come back in a week and we can finish this then."

I blinked, more than a little surprised and confused. Not finish right away? We always finished what we started...and I was a little disappointed that we wouldn't be. Not to mention his dismissal felt...weird. Almost like it _hurt_. Which was just ridiculous, because I disliked being around him in the first place, so why would him not wanting to deal with me hurt?

It wouldn't, and it didn't. Not at all.

I snorted and turned away, pretending like I wasn't still wondering what was up with him. "Fine. And if Rayquaza asks, I was here and I asked how you were doing."

"And called me lazy and almost provoked me into a fight," he answered. I gritted my teeth, determined to ignore him and just leave like he'd told me to. I wasn't going to be pushed into another fight, and I realized now how stupid it was to goad him like that before. _Stupid, stupid! Do you _want_ Arceus-sama to kill you?_

Instead of answering him, I dove back into the pool, making sure to flick my tail and splash him a good one. As we traveled downwards, Manaphy decided it was time to remind me once again that he was still hungry. To be honest, I was kind of surprised he hadn't been more vocal while we were in Groudon's cave, but I was also grateful. The last thing I'd needed was for it to start screaming and _really_ stir things up.

"Mama!" it said, tugging on one of my dorsal fins. "I hungwee!"

"I get it!" I snapped back. "I'll get you something to eat in a minute, OK?"

I stopped at the nearest patch of seaweed and allowed him to eat his fill, stopping him from eating the entire patch. Once I was sure he wouldn't die from hunger in the night, I let him clamber back up from my flipper to the top of my head. We were almost at the stage where he'd consent to be away from me for short periods of time. Almost. Arceus, _when?_ I was desperate for some alone time.

"Mama, da?"

I glanced around, but there was no one else in sight. Only more seaweed, sand, rocks, and salt water. "_What?_"

"Who dat?" Manaphy pointed back towards where we'd just come from, and I understood.

"Oh, you mean Groudon. Well, he's...well, he's..." I bit my lip, searching for a description that wouldn't result in me getting dirty looks for teaching bad words to a baby. "He's one of my counterparts, just like Rayquaza, you remember him. We're in a...a pack together. Anyway, Groudon and I fight a lot because he's mean and I don't let him push me around." Which was true enough. Groudon _did_ often make fun of me, and yes, sometimes I _did_ go a little too far in retaliating, but whatever.

"He smile you."

_OK, translating..."he smiled at you"._

"That was before he knew it was really me and not a dream." I corrected. "Trust me, if he'd been aware of what was going on, he wouldn't have been smiling."

"Sweep now," the thing pleaded, and I rolled my eyes at his short attention span. I allowed him to curl up on my head, and then swam off for my den at a slow, leisurely pace.

Today had certainly been...interesting. The thing was, I wasn't sure if it was in a good way or a bad one.

* * *

**AN: And so does Kyogre learn the basics of being "Mama"! She's still not too used to or good at it yet, but with time that'll change. I admit I find it slightly amusing that she has to alter her self-oriented lifestyle to fit around Manaphy instead. It's all part of the learning process, same as any new parent has to go through.**

**Groudon lives in the Cave of Origin because the first Gen III game I ever played was Ruby Version, and as a result, I have always thought of him as being the one to inhabit the Cave. Perhaps I should have gone with the situation in Emerald Version where he and Kyogre both have their own personalized little caves, but meh. It may or may not become important later on, judging by where this story is going.**

**As for sizes, I'm going with how big they are in the games rather than the absolutely GINORMOUS sizes that they have in the anime. According to the Pok****é**dex, Groudon is eleven feet tall, Kyogre is a little longer than fourteen feet long from tail-tip to snout, and Rayquaza is twenty-three feet long. Manaphy, on the other hand, is only a foot tall. He's a shorty. Lol.

**And before I forget, a huge, huge, HUGE thank you to everyone who has reviewed, alerted, favorited, or even just clicked on this story! You all make my day!**

**Review, please!**


	5. In which a problem presents itself

**I was going to post this tomorrow, but it turns out I'm going to be busy all day. Soooooo, here's chapter five now!**

**Kinda short, but here's where a semblance of a real plot comes into play as well. Hopefully it's not too lame... *sweats***

**Disclaimer: All I can really claim ownership of is each Pokémon's personality, and even then only slightly. **_**Pokémon**_** itself belongs to Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri. Anything you don't recognize as canon most likely belongs to me, however.**

**Summary: It started out as a normal week for Kyogre, fighting with Groudon, getting into trouble with Arceus, the usual. But when a mysterious egg hatches, her life changes irreversibly...perhaps for the better. KyogreGroudon.**

**Going Off the Deep End  
By: Bahamut PURE**

I took a lot of time to think after that incident, especially once the sun had gone down and Manaphy had been put to sleep for the night. Groudon had certainly been acting odd lately. And yes, I suppose I could have chalked it up to the stress and exhaustion of having to live in the Distortion World with Giratina for two weeks, but it had begun _before_ he was sentenced to go there. I was curious, but I didn't want to seem like I was. What was on his mind?

Curiosity is awful sometimes.

He'd been oddly moody lately, and his insults had begun to fluctuate between halfhearted at best and so cruel I couldn't believe my ears. And after each of the latter, he would get this funny look on his face, something oddly like _guilt_, and tell me he wasn't in the mood for me and that I should just go away and leave him alone. As for his attacks? There were times when I could swear he was holding back, which was stupid. He was the one with the type disadvantage; by all rights, he should be putting out more effort to make each attack count.

Also, what made him...smile at me in his dream? It didn't hit me until later that he really _had_ thought he was dreaming, and that seeing me had caused him to break out into a wide smile. A very wide, I'm-so-happy-to-see-you smile.

It was a weird feeling, being smiled at like that. I mean, sure there are certain people who smile when they see me, but none who do it like _that_. That was a...a special smile. And just remembering it was making me nervous for reasons I was unsure of.

The only other thing that smiled like that when it saw me was Manaphy, every time it woke up in the morning or after a nap. But even that smile was different from the one Groudon had given me...

Ooh, this was precisely why I didn't trust him and never had! Because he made me feel weird whenever he wasn't trying to do away with me!

Admittedly, it's kind of rare for us to _not_ try to do away with the other, so yeah, it's going to feel weird whenever we don't, but still. I didn't like this feeling. I was used to him fighting and arguing with me. I _wasn't_ used to him being nice to me and calling me "Ky" and telling me not to go to the Distortion World because the water wasn't safe.

Since when did he care? I mean, ordinarily, he'd probably tell me that it wasn't so bad and to go there because the water was awesome...and...

That was probably his plan! He knew I wouldn't believe him no matter what he said, so I'd be bound to do the opposite! _Well, hahaha, Groudon, I saw through your evil plot!_

I yawned. Now that the mystery was solved, I realized just how tired I was. Carefully without waking up the thing, I shifted into a more comfortable position on the ocean floor and closed my eyes.

* * *

I awoke to the sounds of...nothing. Immediately, even before I was fully awake, I was on my guard. The ocean was always full of life and sound. Right now, all I could hear was the water around me. This silence was not natural. Quickly, I put a flipper up to my head and caught a hold of Manaphy, muffling his cry of dismay at being woken up and tucking him underneath my chin while I discreetly looked around.

If there was a hunter out there (not that any hunter could do any _real_ damage to _me_), then I didn't want it to know that I knew it was there. Hopefully it would think me grabbing Manaphy was just a sleep reflex.

Something grazed my back between my dorsal fins, right where Manaphy had been. Twisting and discreetly opening one eye, I saw that it was a...a net. A net? Only humans used nets. Why in the world would humans be fishing all the way down here?

And why were they seemingly after Manaphy? I wasn't sure of their intentions, but some deep gut instinct told me that these weren't harmless researchers trying to catalogue a new species.

I twisted more, acting like I was rolling over in my sleep, keeping Manaphy firmly grasped in my flipper. Lucky for me, he had gone quiet again.

Above us by about fifty to sixty feet was a large submarine, with a red symbol painted on its side.

My first thought, and it was alarming, was that it was Team Magma come back to haunt me, only this time they were after me and not Groudon. But that didn't make sense - Team Magma was a land-worshipping team. They wouldn't go into the ocean if their lives depended on it, and anyway, they'd been out of business ever since those weird kids had come around a year or so ago. Archie and Maxie had both been tossed into human prison, and their teams were officially disbanded.

I also dismissed the idea that any remnants of the team were after me to try and kill me or something. I had no proof, and really, it was ridiculous.

So the most viable answer was that this was some new team, or perhaps just some Trainers who weren't smart enough to leave a Legendary in her own element alone.

I decided I had had enough of playing dead. Whoever these humans were, they had no right to encroach upon my territory like this and try to capture my charge with their net. I gave a huge yawn, as if just waking up, and stretched, bringing my tail up high. Then, I brought it back down with a swish that sent a huge underwater wave straight at the humans in their submarine. As predicted, their craft was not made for head-on collisions like that, and they went careening through the water till they were out of sight. Faintly, I could hear screams and yells as they tumbled.

There. A relatively malevolent action that I could easily pass off as a mistake. How was _I_ supposed to know they'd be right in the path of my tail, Arceus-sama? You assume too much, ma'am. Really, you do. What? No, Rayquaza, I wasn't trying to make them leave me alone, shut up.

...Raikou, high fin, man. Or paw. Hand. Whatever it is that we all have. You know the drill.

I really need to stop talking to my consciousness like that...well, I was only talking to it to, you know, reassure it a little. Though it definitely doesn't help that it sometimes talks in the voices of my fellow Legendaries.

The worst times are when it talks in Groudon's voice. Lucky for me, that's only when I've done something _really_ stupid, which isn't often. At that point, I always imagine what he would say and how he would mock me, and it's the perfect incentive to fix whatever problem I'm going through right away.

I sighed and rolled back onto my stomach. Now that I was awake, I doubted I'd be able to get back to sleep again, and it was mid-morning already anyway. Time to wake up.

First order of business: food. Since the general area was still suspiciously absent of other Pokémon, I instead decided yet another seaweed feast was in order, even though I was really starting to get sick of the stuff. Later on, I could pick something else up if I so felt the need, but right now, Manaphy needed food.

Still a little nervous, I chewed my food slowly and noiselessly as possible. The same could not be said for the thing, who chomped and nommed and laughed as loud as ever. As far as he knew, nothing was wrong.

My first order of business was to go and scout out the area, see if I could find any of the missing residents. Once breakfast was over, I gathered Manaphy back up and swam off, careful to go slow so as not to miss anything. I had gone nearly half a mile before I found anyone, and it was a Crawdaunt mother. She was huddled behind a hunk of coral, her face in her claws and crying.

"Excuse me? Did something happen?" I asked, swimming to her.

She looked up. It's impossible to really be tear-streaked in the ocean, but the Crawdaunt's eyes were red-rimmed and big with fear. "My babies are gone!" she cried. "They took them!"

I frowned. A kidnapping? And I had been only half a mile away, and hadn't noticed? "Tell me what happened."

She sniffled. "W-we were still asleep when I heard something, and I woke up and looked around, but I couldn't find any of them! And then I heard one of them cry out and looked up, and they were being dragged away in a net! Oh, my babies!" She broke down crying again.

Alright, this was suspicious. I felt for her, losing her babies and all, but many things still didn't make sense. "Where is everyone else, ma'am? This place was filled up just last night." And moreover, why hadn't there been some kind of commotion if babies were being stolen? That would have woken me up straight away.

"H-how should I know?" the Crawdaunt snapped at me. "All our babies are gone! And those humans took them!"

The people in the submarine, I presumed. And they'd tried to get Manaphy the same way, with a net. But unfortunately for them, I'd woken up before they could. But...why had _I_ woken up and not this Crawdaunt or any of the other mothers whose babies had been taken, according to her? Something very bad was going on here. My temper began to rise as her words sank in.

"So it's not just your children the humans took?" I asked. "They took others' as well?"

She confirmed this.

"Did you notice anything else that might have seemed strange to you? Anything...not normal besides the kidnapping?" Anything that might help me figure out what happened!

She sniffled again, wiping at her face. Fat lot of good _that_ was going to do down here... "N-no. I-I was too b-busy trying to save my babies."

OK, that was understandable, if not horribly unhelpful. I bade her goodbye and she left me alone after I promised her no less than four times that I was going to go search for her babies straight away. I was just turning to leave when I noticed something.

There are lots of odd things down in the ocean, the least of which are not the rocks. But I knew this area well, and never before had I seen _glittering_ rocks around here. I leaned towards it, ignoring the Crawdaunt's curious gaze, and sniffed. Some of that glitter rushed into my nose, and I fought the wave of lightheadedness that washed over me a split second later.

So here was the answer to the mystery, I thought, shaking my head to clear it. Sleep Powder. There were several species of Pokémon, mostly of the Bug-type, that could produce it. Doubtless the humans had spread it over the area before going after the victims.

It also explained why I had woken up, even if it had been late. I'm a lot bigger than most other creatures of the ocean (Wailord being the exception), and it would take a lot more Sleep Powder to knock me out than, say, a Crawdaunt. A chill swept over me as I realized just how lucky I'd been to wake up when I had. If I'd remained asleep, Manaphy would have been taken along with all the other babies.

My job was clear. I had to spread a warning that there were humans going around in a submarine and kidnapping Pokémon throughout the ocean by use of Sleep Powder and nets, and once that was done, I had to start searching for the kidnapped ones.

It's an unspoken thing that if a human captures a Pokémon in a Pokéball, then that's it. You're owned by that human. But in those situations, the human gives the Pokémon they're after a fair chance. Taking children away from their mothers like this was just plain kidnapping.

"Go and spread the word about this," I ordered the Crawdaunt. "Warn everyone you find to not sleep out in the open for a while."

Once she had scampered off, I reached up and grabbed Manaphy, bringing him close to my face. He squirmed and giggled for a minute before seeing my expression and calming down. Good. So he understood that I was being serious.

"I need you to listen to me very carefully," I said. "Are you listening?"

He nodded eagerly.

"Good. If you see anything that looks like that big thing we saw this morning - you remember what it looks like, right? Good. If you see _anything_ that looks like it, you need to tell me, alright? Can you do that for me?" I didn't bother explaining why. He was a baby, what would he care? As long as he knew that he was supposed to let me know if he saw it, that would be good enough for me.

"Mama!" I took that as a yes, particularly when he attempted to hug my face, nuzzling my snout. My gaze softened for a moment, before I shook it off and stuck him back on top of my head.

OK, I admit it: sometimes he really _was_ adorable.

I also decided from then on that when he took naps or slept, then I'd have to stop moving and let him sleep in my flipper, or if there was urgent business and I had to move around, then he could stay in my mouth.

Not the most elegant solution, but whatever worked. Or rather...maybe I could have a carrying pouch made. Yes, that sounded better. Rather than sticking him in my mouth and risk swallowing him on accident, I'd have to get a pouch. Unfortunately, I didn't know any crafts-Pokémon that made pouches in the ocean. Which meant...

I groaned. I'd have to use my human form and buy one from a human shop. Wonderful. Hopefully I wouldn't stumble around and disturb the peace like _last_ time.

I quickly decided that I wouldn't be doing this alone. No way. Latias would be a big help, I knew, and quickly took off for Alto Mare. She spent a lot of time in a human guise, playing and observing, so she'd be able to keep me from doing something stupid. The only problem would be convincing Manaphy to stay behind in her garden with the other babies, but I'd deal with that when we got there.

* * *

**AN: Again, sorry for the shortness of this chapter. The next one, however, is much longer, so there! Once I'm done fixing it up and being a perfectionist it'll get posted.**

**And thus does Kyogre learn to start liking Manaphy a little bit. Admit it, you'd be hard-pressed not to think he was cute if he hugged **_**your**_** face like that.**

**As for the Gen V Legendaries, I've had an idea for a way to incorporate them in here, so they'll be appearing later on. Not for a while, but yes, they will be included.**

**Thank you for your reviews, and I hope to see more of them! **


	6. In which Kyogre & Latias have an outing

**As promised, here is chapter six! A bit longer than the last one, and with some more Latias! She's in this story a lot more than I had originally planned for her to be, haha. This is the last we'll really see of her for a while, though.**

**Disclaimer: All I can really claim ownership of is each Pokémon's personality, and even then only slightly. **_**Pokémon**_** itself belongs to Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri. Anything you don't recognize as canon most likely belongs to me, however.**

**Summary: It started out as a normal week for Kyogre, fighting with Groudon, getting into trouble with Arceus, the usual. But when a mysterious egg hatches, her life changes irreversibly...perhaps for the better. KyogreGroudon.**

**Going Off the Deep End  
By: Bahamut PURE**

"Ooh, Kyogre! Look at this one! Oh, I haven't done this in so long! It's so much fun to see the marketplace again!" Latias cried, dashing around the entrance to said shopping center.

I grunted. As expected, getting Manaphy to let me leave him behind had not been easy, and it was only when Rayquaza decided to show up and distracted him that we were finally able to depart. And that was another thing: since when did Rayquaza take so much time out of his own schedule to check on someone else so often? He hadn't looked very happy with me when I'd shoved Manaphy into his claws, but such was life. I'd apologize later.

Also as expected, walking was still difficult. This was due in part to the fact that I hadn't done it since those few meetings ago when Arceus had forced us into it, and I was wildly out of practice. Latias lent me an outfit that was still at least a size too small, as I was taller than her in human form as well, and a pair of sandals that miraculously fit, and then forced me to relearn to walk on two legs.

It was hell. I picked it up again after an hour or so of practice, but it was still obvious that I wasn't used to it.

"So, Kyogre!" Latias said, finally calming down a bit. "What are we looking for?"

"A carrying pouch for Manaphy." I groused. When she inquired as to why, I explained about the submarine and the kidnapped babies. She was, predictably, shocked and horrified.

"But who would do such a thing?" she asked. "Oh, Kyogre, you're so lucky you woke up when you did! If you hadn't, poor Manaphy would have been taken!"

Ugh, don't remind me...

And I hated being in human form! What was the point of having all this hair? At least mine was blue, which is a color I like, but it was entirely too long and got in my face. Latias had pulled it back with a clip into what she called a "ponytail", and it hung down my back in dark blue waves. At least it wasn't in my face anymore, but I would still have preferred to be in my natural form.

The worst part about being human, though, was the looks the males seemed predisposed to giving the females. Latias got quite a few, which was bad enough, but I was getting more than what I deemed my fair share. I blamed the clothes.

"_Sorry they're not bigger,"_ Latias had said when she pulled them out and handed them to me, _"but you're kind of taller than me...and...it looks like the shirt doesn't want to go all the way down...uh...well, just leave it, it looks cute!"_

Pants were out of the question, as none of hers fit me, and instead of them, I'd been stuffed into a skirt that nearly hit my knees, thank Arceus. But still.

And that was how I'd wound up stumbling around Alto Mare's marketplace in a black shirt (apparently called a "tank top") that didn't cover my midriff properly and a blue skirt that was _almost_ long enough to be acceptable. Latias was lucky, her clothes fit her perfectly.

"Alright then, let's go look!" she cheered, hooking her arm into mine and dragging me off. I staggered and would have fallen if she weren't so much stronger than she looked. Thank Arceus for that. The last thing I wanted was to fall and get any more attention than I'd already gotten.

There turned out to be a small tent that sold bags and the like a fair distance away from the market entrance, and we traipsed in its direction. Along the way, Latias chattered happily about how nice it was to be out again after so long of not being so, and thanks for inviting her, and hey, we should do this more often, it's fun!

I answered her as best I could. It's hard not to like Latias, and even though I was nervous and on edge, I couldn't bring myself to be annoyed with her.

When we finally got to the shop with the bags Latias had told me about, I let go of her arm and managed to walk to the rows of merchandise on the tent's wall without making a fool of myself. A smile crossed my face. So I _was_ learning!

"So," I said as Latias browsed the other side of the store, "it looks like you and Rayquaza are getting kind of close these days. What's up with that, hm?" I'd meant it purely as a joke, but she was silent. Surprised, I looked back at her, and her face was nearly the same shade of red as the sundress she'd put on.

Oh Arceus, don't tell me...

"Um..." she said, looking at the ground and fiddling with her dress. "Uh..."

"You like him!" I hadn't meant to sound accusing, and winced when it came out that way. Latias did too, and I hurried to correct my mistake. "I didn't mean it like that! It's just...I mean...wow. I just...didn't see it coming."

She gave a tiny laugh. "I didn't either."

All these surprises were starting to make me wonder just how much I had missed over the last few weeks I'd been taking care of Manaphy. Man, I was really out of the loop. "When did this happen?"

"Um..." She bit her lip. "Well, it just...kind of did. I can't tell you when, really."

Understandable, I guess, though I'd never had those feelings for anyone before so I couldn't really judge. "He sure comes around a lot."

"Yeah." She grinned, cheeks flushing again. The red was made all the darker by the bright white of her hair. "He says it's to make sure I'm alright now that my brother is gone."

I winced again. I'd checked on her a few times, as had nearly everyone else, since that incident, but I had pretty much been neglecting her recently now that I had Manaphy to take care of. In fact, the only times I'd seen her were when I'd been begging for advice as to what to do with him. Still, it was just downright odd that Rayquaza was coming around so often.

"Hm...this one looks good." Latias held out a yellow bag made of rubber to me. She lowered her voice. "It's long enough that it can go around your flipper, and the pouch is big enough so that Manaphy can fit in it comfortably." She showed me the bag's strap, which actually _was_ incredibly long and fastened with buttons. I nodded, and we took it to the cash register.

As she was busy bargaining with the human manning the shop about lowering the price, I glanced outside of the shop. Tons upon tons of humans were prancing around the marketplace, doing...whatever it is that they do. Shopping. Talking. Bothering each other. I was just turning back to Latias when one caught my eye.

A dark-haired man with bright blue eyes was staring back at me. By human standards, I suppose he could be considered attractive. But what really caught my attention was the shirt he was wearing. It was gray and long-sleeved, which was odd for this warm weather, and there was a small red and silver badge pinned to the upper left of his chest. I frowned, tilting my head to try and see it, and he flashed me a quick smile, coming forward.

"Excuse me, miss?" he said. His voice was low, and...charming, I guess. Whatever. "I couldn't help but notice you looking at me. Did you need something?"

I blinked, confused. Where had he gotten _that_ idea? "Um, no...sorry if I gave you that impression." I turned to go back to Latias, and as luck would have it, my right foot caught on my left ankle. With a yelp, I went down and would have hit the ground had he not grabbed me and yanked me back up.

"Are you alright, miss?" he asked, concerned. I nodded, trying to untangle my feet and pushing my hair out of my face. It felt like it had fallen out of the clip Latias had pulled it back with. "Y-yeah, um, thanks."

He grinned. "Not a problem! It's always a pleasure to rescue a pretty lady."

Against my will, I felt a tinge of heat come to my cheeks. Oh, why is that I always get so embarrassed whenever anyone compliments me?

"Ky!" Latias rushed over, the newly-purchased yellow bag clutched in her hands. "Are you OK?"

My savior nodded at her. "Friend of yours?"

"Something like that," I muttered, allowing Latias to grab my arms and inspect me for any injuries. "I'm fine, really, I am."

She gave me a searching look, but finally nodded and gave me the bag. She turned to the man who had kept me from faceplanting again and bowed to him. "Thank you for helping my cousin!" she chirped. "She's kind of a klutz."

I felt my face begin to grow hot with embarrassment. So I wasn't so good at walking yet! Sue me! Instead, I forced a laugh and rubbed the back of my head. "Ahaha, yeah. Klutz...yeah."

Latias shot me an apologetic look and I calmed down. We couldn't very well tell this human the reason I sucked at walking was because in my natural form I didn't have legs. At best, that would probably get us weird looks; at worst, chased out of the marketplace by overeager Trainers eager to see the Pokémon-in-human-form.

The human introduced himself as Russell. In return, Latias introduced us as "Ky" and "Tia". Not the most original names, but it was the best we could do on such short notice, especially considering she'd already blurted out my nickname when running over to see if I was alright. Oh well, at least she hadn't called me by my real name. _That_ would have taken some explaining.

"Well, Ky and Tia," Russell smiled, "would you mind if I accompanied you two for a while? My group is busy with their own stuff and I've got nothing better to do."

Latias bit her lip, which made me groan internally. She really was too nice. Before I could say, _"no, thank you"_, though, she blurted out, "Certainly! Why not?"

Russell gave her that same charming smile. "Wonderful! Where are we off to next?"

My plan had been simply to come here, buy the pouch, and go home, but it now looked like that wasn't an option. I sighed. Oh well.

While we walked, I remembered the badge that I had seen on Russell's shirt and craned my head as discreetly as possible, trying to see it. It was gone. I frowned. Had I imagined it? Possibly, but I doubted it. More likely he'd removed the thing at some point.

Hm...now I was _really_ curious about it...

Though, I did manage to relax a bit. Russell was just the average human. I didn't like how his gaze lingered on my legs or on Latias's back a few times, but other than that, he was the epitome of a human woman's dream, even asking Latias if she had any males in her life and good-naturedly teasing her when she blushed again.

As for me...

"So, Ky-san," he said, smiling, "is there any man in _your_ life?"

Bah, no. Or, well, there _were_ males in my life, but none in the way he was implying. I opened my mouth to say so, but Latias beat me to the punch.

"Oh, there is!" she squealed, elbowing me in the side when I gaped at her. "They fight a lot, but they've been together forever!"

She wasn't talking about who I thought she was talking about, was she?

"In fact!" Latias tugged on the yellow plastic pouch, which I was still holding, "Ky recently adopted a little boy named, uh, Manny and they're raising him together!"

Latias...you really need to work on your fake names...

Russell grinned. "Oh really now? Well then, congratulations, Ky-san! Sounds like you've got quite the man there!"

I laughed shortly. "Haha...yeah...he's really something, alright...ha..."

Yes, if by _"he's really something"_ you meant obnoxious, rude, and a complete ass!

"He tries to boss me around," I sniffed, making both of them look at me curiously. Hey, might as well have some fun while it lasted, right? It wasn't like we'd ever see this human ever again. "He thinks that because he's a male, he can just get his way whenever he wants. Well, I'm the one with the type- er, _gender_ advantage, and what I say, goes."

So _there_.

Instead of laughing, Russell now looked concerned. "Does he try to hit you, Ky-san?"

"Oh yeah, but I always hit him back."

He now looked more alarmed than concerned. I wonder why...?

Latias jumped back in. "It's all in play," she said with a forced laugh. "They're just very rough with each other. I don't pretend to understand it." She gave him a wink that was meant to reassure, and to my relief, it looked like it worked.

It occurred me just then that with humans, males hitting females is a serious issue, and I almost groaned at my own stupidity. How on earth had I forgotten that? I couldn't keep forgetting this stuff and not begin to raise a few suspicions.

Not like Groudon could really do much more damage to me than I could him, though. It was more or less equal on both sides each time we fought, and we were both still alive dozens of battles later. Still, it was amusing to think of this human male trying to come to the rescue of a Legendary. Particularly one like me. Female I may be, but I don't need the help of any male.

Annoyingly, Russell decided to accompany us for the next few hours, browsing through the stalls with us (or rather, browsing through the stalls with Latias while I waited for them to get done). Along the way, he kept throwing questions about our "boyfriends" at us, which was annoying at best. Though, it was rather fun making some of it up.

By the end of it, Latias was the daughter of a prominent family from Mossdeep, who had gone out to Alto Mare on the pretext of vacationing with some friends, but in actuality was going to meet her secret lover, a man from another prominent family that just so happened to be rival to her own. She and "Ray" had been in love for years, but dared not let their parents find out for fear of the dire consequences. They were planning to elope as soon as she reached her eighteenth birthday, and the day could not come fast enough.

I, on the other hand, was a champion swimmer from Petalburg who had fallen into a quick rivalry with one of the local young men, who held that land-based sports were much better than swimming. He and I had argued for years and years about which was better until we realized we'd quite accidentally fallen in love. Then my cousin died, writing in his will that he was leaving custody of his five-month-old son "Manny" to me and "Geoffrey". I was here in Alto Mare mostly to keep up the pretext to "Tia's" parents and to make sure they didn't find out about her little get-together with "Ray".

I had to hand it to Latias - she sure had one hell of an imagination. That, or she had just watched one too many chick flicks. I had to wonder what Rayquaza and Groudon would say if they could have heard us. Rayquaza would probably have a fit, and Groudon...hard to say. Probably throw up at the thought of being in love with me.

Well, who needs _him_. I sure didn't.

Oh yeah, the names of Latias's parents? Patrick and Diana. And my cousin's name was Gregory. Take a guess as to who _those_ three really were.

Still, it _was_ kind of fun, which was a bit of a shock to realize. It was fun to walk around with Latias, even though we had to watch what we said with this human following us. And yes, even _he_ managed to provide some of the laughs. He was charming and sweet, and I was sure any human female would have been delighted to have him following them around instead of us.

I will not, however, pretend that it wasn't a relief when we finally bade him goodbye as the sun started to go down. He waved off Latias's apologies with a reassurance that he was sure he'd see us around again some time.

Ha...Latias, yes. Maybe. Me? Not likely.

It was a _great_ relief to go back down to the ocean, strip off the clothes Latias had given me, and dive in, going as far as I could before releasing the energy that kept me in a human body. Joy rippled through me as I gazed upon my real body, flippers, tail, blubber, and all. Thank Arceus! I was Kyogre, queen of the ocean, again!

I surfaced, grinning at Latias, who had also changed back and was floating above me. She gave me a smile, and after she had helped me secure the yellow pouch around my right flipper, we set off, keeping close to the shoreline to try and find a shortcut back into the city. Once we found that, we'd both transform back into humans, go to Latias's little garden, and I'd retrieve Manaphy and go home.

Before diving down, though, I felt a prickle at the back of my head and whirled around. I could have sworn I saw a human looking at me, but I blinked and it was gone.

A mirage? Or just paranoia? Or had someone really been looking at me? Had they seen us transform?

No, that was ridiculous, I decided. Besides, if they had, it wasn't like they could tell anyone. Who would believe them? Most humans seemed to believe that we Legendaries held little to no interest in them and their affairs, and it was a belief we saw no point in breaking. The less they knew of us, the better, but really, no one in their right mind would believe someone who said he'd just seen two girls turn into Kyogre and Latias.

* * *

As I had expected, Manaphy was overjoyed to have me back, launching himself into me with all the grace and force of a runaway Tauros. It took me no less than twenty minutes to persuade him into the pouch hanging off my right shoulder and that, no, Manaphy, I'm not going to leave you again, now get in the bag and shut up.

Rayquaza looked positively harassed, and gave me what was quite possibly the most evil glare I've ever received when we returned. "Never again," he said, voice hoarse, "will I agree to babysitting that whiny bag of water! Five hours, Kyogre! Five hours straight, it cried for you! I thought my eardrums would bleed!"

I laughed guiltily and promised I'd make it up to him, and he grumbled that I had better. Currently I had no idea just _how_ I'd make it up him, but I would think of something. Maybe find him a nice big hunk of coral to decorate the Sky Pillar with...

By unspoken agreement, Latias and I didn't share too much of the details of our adventure with him beyond assuring him that we had been safe, no one suspected what we really were, and we'd had fun - "-yes, even Kyogre!" Um, yeah, we'll go with that... "Oh, and we met this really nice human boy, and- Rayquaza, why are you scowling?"

I rolled my eyes, but instead of teasing them like I desperately wanted to, I instead decided to cut my trio leader a break. "He's just worried that the human might have been onto us, Latias. It's no big deal. He didn't suspect a thing, so stop worrying, alright, Rayquaza?"

Rayquaza shot me a look that I chose to interpret as grateful, though it was equally exasperated. I shrugged. "What? He was nice. Much nicer than most males I know, anyway."

"Considering how most males you know include the rest of us Legendaries, that's not much of a compliment," he said dryly, but let it be.

After some more small talk that wasn't half as interesting, I decided it was high time for me to get going back to Hoenn. It was getting late, and I was tired. Manaphy, thankfully, had dropped off to sleep a few minutes after being shoved into his new carrying pouch, and I couldn't stop myself from smiling at him as Rayquaza and I bade Latias goodnight.

I didn't want to admit it, but...he was actually kind of adorable. When he was sleeping and not making noise. Yeah. Awake? No way.

At Rayquaza's insistence, I allowed him to help me slip out of Latias's secret garden, which was rather inconveniently located in the middle of the city, though thankfully in a not-so-public sector. How it managed to remain secret was beyond me, but Latias had assured me that the only human who had an inkling of where it might be was a girl named Bianca, who she was friends or something with. Dubious, but alright. And if Latios had trusted this girl, as Latias said, then she must have been OK.

Before, when Latias and I had resumed our normal forms, it had been only for about fifteen or so minutes until we were forced to become humans again and walk there - or in my case, stumble. And now, I sighed as I once again assumed that shape. I kept a tight hold on Rayquaza's arm as we walked, still wearing the clothes Latias had given me with Manaphy's pouch looped over my shoulder and him safely hidden from sight.

This way, Rayquaza explained, it would just look like we were any other human couple out for the night, the man supporting his girlfriend who was obviously a little tipsy. Still not fun, but as long as it got us out without attracting attention, then I was willing to do it.

He walked me back to the shore, then turned around while I stripped out of the clothes once again and only turned back to me once I let him know it was alright. I gave him the clothes to give back to Latias, and he took them, then left me to go make the walk back to Latias's garden. And then, presumably, he'd go back home to the Sky Pillar as well.

I let out a yawn and dove under the waves. The sky was dark, the stars were out, and there was no moon, meaning visibility was bad. Which meant the chances of being seen by humans were, once again, bad as well. Not that there was anyone out here to see me, anyway. And if they did, in this bad light, they'd probably mistake me for a Wailmer, or a small Wailord.

As I swam, I found my thoughts returning to the story Latias had concocted for me to tell to Russell earlier today. She had been so quick and eager to tell him that I already had someone that I was interested in, and to assure him of our "love" for each other. _Hah. If by "love", you mean "hate", then yeah, that works, Latias._

Against my will, I actually began to imagine what it would...be like. Having someone like that, I mean. I'd never really been interested in having a significant other - having a counterpart was bad enough - but now I was seriously beginning to wonder if I was missing out on something. The level of trust Latias showed Rayquaza...I wondered what it would be like to have someone I could depend on like that.

My mind took me back to earlier that week, when I had gone to Groudon's cave to check on him. That smile of his...Arceus, why did he _smile_ at me like that? He hated me, and I hated him. That was how it had always been.

But I found that I liked his smile. I _liked_ that he had smiled at seeing me, even if he had thought he was dreaming. I suppose...it was nice to see someone actually happy to see me for once. Most see me as a bringer of floods or general chaos and destruction, and it's not an undeserved reputation. I'd never held any illusions about that.

This was going to drive me crazy if I thought about it for much longer, I knew, but I couldn't stop. I couldn't stop imagining the smile on Groudon's face and comparing it to the one on Rayquaza's when Latias had charged into the garden and announced we were back. He'd hidden it quickly enough, but I'd seen it before it was gone.

It was that same _I'm-so-happy-to-see-you_ quirk that was getting me. Groudon wasn't supposed to be happy to see me! And I wasn't supposed to be happy that he was happy to see me.

Why couldn't it have been anyone else? Mewtwo, Zapdos, Moltres, Lugia, Raikou, Entei, Rayquaza, Deoxys, Palkia, Giratina, Azelf, Uxie, Registeel, Regice, Regirock, Heatran...hell, even Regigigas would have been better! ...even though...he and the other golems kind of lack mouths...but it's the thought that counts!

Anyone other than Groudon.

But raising Manaphy with me, as Latias had told Russell? I snorted. Yeah, if I had wanted Manaphy to turn out as something I despised, then I'd let Groudon help me raise him...

* * *

**AN: I'm kind of on the fence about the whole idea of Legendaries being able to transform into humans, but seeing as how Latias is canonically able to do it, why not the rest of them as well. And I admit I actually like the idea. Wonderful potential for just about everything, especially the more socially awkward ones like our dear Kyogre.**

**My brother pointed out to me that neither Rayquaza, Latias, nor Kyogre have legs in their natural forms, but that Rayquaza and Latias are proficient at walking. The reason they're better at it is that they've actually bothered to practice, Latias especially, whereas Kyogre almost never uses her human form. Just thought I'd throw that out there for anyone else who's wondering the same thing. *anime sweatdrop***

**As usual, thanks bucketloads for the reviews, alerts, and favorites, everyone! And thanks to Jack188 for the concrit as well!**

**Review, please!**


	7. In which Manaphy attempts to sing

**Oh God, an update! Yes, folks, **_**Going Off The Deep End**_** is officially back in business after a very long hiatus. The plot has been mostly refined and reworked, and the next few chapters are all already written out (all the way up to chapter ten!). I do apologize for the long wait, though, and I hope you enjoy what comes up next.**

**This chapter turned out a bit longer than I expected. Hm!**

**Disclaimer: All I can really claim ownership of is each Pokémon's personality, and even then only slightly. **_**Pokémon**_** itself belongs to Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri. Anything you don't recognize as canon most likely belongs to me, however.**

**Going Off The Deep End  
By: Saya Moonshadow**

I decided to take the next day off, in order to get Manaphy used to his carrying pouch, and also because the previous day had been somewhat trying for me and I didn't think I was up to much contact just yet.

Of course, it had been a very long time since I'd had a _true_ day off (and alone) - my last one had been before I got saddled with Manaphy; actually, it had been before Groudon and I had the fight that resulted in me being saddled with Manaphy. The days after said fight had been dedicated to attempting to help put things back to normal in Slateport City as discreetly as possible, and also to helping the local Water Pokémon calm down.

No, the world is not being reset again. No, I'm not going to kill everyone in the general vicinity. Yes, things are now under control. No, Groudon isn't going to turn the oceans into dry land - _as if_ I would ever let that happen!

I had allowed something like it to happen once, actually - in the region of Orre, the land is nothing more than a vast, dry desert. To some Pokémon, it would be considered a paradise, except it proved too harsh for most of them, and that land is one where no Pokémon naturally occur. Strangely, there are cities there, and humans have made it their home for many years now, but the whole region is wrought with crime and general strife. There are a few oases, namely Agate Village and Phenac City, where water is plentiful, but otherwise, it is quite scarce.

The people of that region import Pokémon, or so I hear. I had also once heard of a certain criminal organization was doing its level best to control all of those Pokémon by systematically shutting the door to the heart of each one that they came into contact with. Celebi had helped the young man who eventually shut this organization down by somehow reopening each Pokémon's heart, though how she did it is something I don't know.

Regardless, that boy is now forever blessed by her power, and apparently through his and another man's efforts, the Orre region is slowly being terraformed to allow Pokémon to live there comfortably.

I was amused to hear from Celebi that I am worshipped quite fervently by the people of Orre, particularly those in cities which depend on the infrequent rainfall there for their water. They of course also worship Groudon and Rayquaza, but it seems the need for water outweighs the need for land or sky over there.

Anyway, all that aside, I fully intended to enjoy my day off to the fullest. If I was lucky, Manaphy would be mostly quiet all day, too, and I'd really be able to enjoy myself.

After first quelling my hunger pangs with a light meal of seaweed, I swam out a ways and then allowed myself to sink, going farther than I'd gone since receiving Manaphy from Latias. He was still in his new carrying pouch, and likely wondering just what I was doing, but he was very quiet for the most part. Focusing my hearing let me know that he was indeed awake - his breathing was too quick and irregular for him to be asleep - but to my relief, he wasn't showing any signs of panicking.

Good. I'd been worried about this for quite a while, actually - I liked to explore the deeper parts of my domain quite frequently, and I hadn't been sure if Manaphy would be alright with that. I'd seen him swim very often, of course, and he did it remarkably well for a baby, but that was in fairly shallow water, where the light of the sun was still strong. Where we were going now, it wasn't half so bright.

There are places in the deep that not even I know everything about, Queen of the Ocean though I am. Lugia also knows quite a bit about it, being that he spends most of his time submerged near the Whirl Islands of the Johto region, but there is still quite a bit left unexplored.

Today was a good day to continue with that, I decided, and to my relief, Manaphy seemed OK with it. Or, at the very least, he didn't seem to be very distressed about it.

As I continued to sink, I felt an exhilaration I hadn't felt since the last time I'd been down here. This was where I truly belonged, in the deep ocean, ruling over my domain. The shallower waters were great, don't get me wrong - in fact, all water is great to me - but these deeper ones were my favorite of them all.

And as I sank, I began to hum.

It had been a long time since I last sang, and to my mild amusement, my voice was a little raspy as a result. But I continued, humming a song I'd often heard Wailords and Wailmers sing to each other when they migrated. I loved to listen to their migration songs, and whenever that time of year came about, I was right there with them, traveling as long as I wanted to, but always returning to the Hoenn region before long. It was, after all, my home.

Eventually, I got sick of humming and began to full on sing, letting my voice ring out as loudly as I wanted, which was a great relief. Oh, it was so nice to be able to sing again without some little pest interrupting-

"Aaahh, aah-ah!"

I immediately stopped singing and looked over at my right flipper, trying very hard not to let my annoyance show. Unsurprisingly, Manaphy was hanging out of his pouch, with his eyes closed and mouth open as he tried to match my song.

Tried and failed, I must admit, and I watched as he sang increasingly discordant notes. This seemed to frustrate him a fair bit, if the crease in his forehead was any indication, and he finally opened his eyes and looked up at me with what I can only describe as _pleading_.

"You want me to sing?" I asked cautiously.

He nodded eagerly, and I sighed. It was a little difficult to see him, as it was fairly dark down where we were, but I kept moving and did as he asked.

A moment after I began again, he opened his mouth and attempted to match me, though still failing miserably. Perhaps every one note out of seven was correct, but the rest...well, I can't pretend they were anywhere near accurate. It was a little painful to listen to, but it was cute watching him try either way.

His voice was clear and high, nothing like the voices of either of my counterparts, I found myself thinking as we continued to harmonize - or rather, as _I_ continued to sing, and _he_ attempted to harmonize with me. Groudon's voice was a deep baritone, bordering on bass, and Rayquaza skirted the line between very low tenor and baritone, depending on his mood. I'd never heard either of them sing before, and I doubted I ever would. Rayquaza every great once in a while showed an interest in certain songs and had once debated with me about the value of songs with lyrics as compared to those without, but Groudon had never had any interest, as far as I was aware. For all I knew, he was probably even worse at this than Manaphy was, though Manaphy would probably get better with practice.

I hoped so, anyway, because it was a little hard to put up with such off-key singing.

I stopped, however, once I realized that part of the problem was that his tempo was completely off. Actually, not the tempo, but the whole song. The song I was singing was pure legato - that is, smooth and flowing from note to note with ease. The song Manaphy was attempting to sing was something else entirely. It was like he couldn't decide if it was supposed to be smooth or disconnected, a la staccato - two notes would flow together, and then a small pause, and he'd sing another three, but less smoothly, before frowning and beginning again.

It was very visibly frustrating him, but as I had no idea what the hell he was going for, I obviously couldn't help him.

I tried anyway.

"Ahh-ah," I sang, gaining his complete attention. A large smile split across his face, and I was rewarded with a resounding cry of, "Mama! Yes!" which made me feel way more smug than it probably should have.

OK, so we were getting somewhere.

"Ahh-ah, ah-ah-ah," I tried, imitating what I'd heard him do and putting emphasis on the first and fourth notes.

His smile dropped at the last three notes, as I'd expected. I'd gotten them wrong, of course, but that was only because I had no idea how they were supposed to _go_. For the next twenty or so minutes, I kept going, trying different combinations of notes, but none seemed to work. He seemed to think I was mocking him in some way, if the ever-deepening frown on his face was any indication.

Finally I stopped and laughed a little bit. "Sorry," I said, making him perk up. "I guess I can't find the notes you're looking for."

His smile brightened his face at breakneck speed. "Mama!"

I sighed, knowing it was his way of telling me it was alright. "Well, anyway, enough of that. Let's get to exploring, shall we?"

Instead of shouting "Mama!" again, as I'd expected, he surprised me by wriggling out of his pouch and swimming quickly over to my head, where he parked himself and rested right in front of my blowhole. "Manaphy-" I began, but stopped.

I wasn't very comfortable with him being out of his pouch down here. It was cold and dark, and Arceus only knew what else all lived down here. Tentacruels, Tentacools, Sharpedos, Carvanhas, Gorebysses, Huntails, all sorts of nasty things lurked down in the depths, and I'd never really explored this particular stretch too well. He was tiny, squishy, and virtually incapable of defending himself should something attempt to snatch him, and what if I was unable to get to him should that happen? For a moment I simply floated, unwilling to tell him to get back in the pouch when he was so clearly excited about swimming with me again, but also not happy about him being so...so..._unprotected_.

"Mama?" I couldn't see him from where he was, but I could hear the question and the smile in Manaphy's voice. He wanted to know what was wrong, but I doubted he'd understand my concern even if I were to voice it to him.

I quickly decided to allow him to stay out of the pouch. He'd proven himself a fast swimmer to me before, and humans aside, there weren't too many creatures who would look at me and decide that messing with my charge was worth it. And with him sitting on my head and hanging on to me, it wasn't like there was much chance of him getting left behind.

"You can stay up there as long as we are alone," I told him seriously. "But if you see anything, go back to the pouch. OK?"

He gave me a reassuring little pat that I barely felt. "Mama! Yes!"

I couldn't help but smile at this. "Good."

And we were off. I swam as fast as I dared, not bothering to go any deeper. This was deep enough as far as I was concerned, and no way was I going down where I wouldn't be able to see anything at all. Not unless it was absolutely necessary, and Manaphy was safely in his pouch with the button done up.

To my considerable surprise, he seemed more than OK with where we were. As before, I was worried that he wouldn't like the deeper places, but he was showing absolutely no trepidation at being so far down, and I suspected there would still be none if I were to decide to go deeper. Not even the temperature seemed to be bothering him, which had been one of my main worries. I had a nice layer of blubber beneath my skin, which meant I'd be well-insulated in the colder places, but Manaphy had no such protection. I concentrated hard to detect any hint of shivering, but found none. If there had been, I'd have high-tailed it to the surface again, no questions asked. The last thing I needed was for him to get sick or something.

But no, he seemed to be enjoying the colder temperature, though he certainly had no problem with the warm, shallower waters around the Hoenn region. Every day he presented me with some new mystery, and today was no exception. I could only wonder at what poor Rayquaza must have thought of him yesterday - when he wasn't trying to get Manaphy to stop crying, anyway.

Since I couldn't go any deeper, I was more or less wandering aimlessly. A few schools of Carvanha swam past, and more than one Gorebyss and Huntail, but they all paid us almost no heed. Otherwise, there wasn't anything much that might interest a curious little thing like Manaphy, but he showed no sign of getting bored.

I began to hum again, because while he may not have been bored, I was sure beginning to feel it. No particular song this time, just whatever notes came into my head at the moment. This time, however, Manaphy didn't attempt to join me except for when I sang the two notes we'd managed to get right a few minutes ago.

As I sang, I began to wonder how he knew those notes were correct, and why he'd gotten so frustrated when he couldn't figure out the next ones. Was it a song he knew? Though how could it be, when he was a baby? Or was it a song he'd heard and was just trying to replicate? It didn't sound like any I had heard before, though I conceded that this might have been something he'd heard in Latias' garden. I made a mental note to ask her if she recognized it later.

We swam around for hours, going in circles many times, and I enjoyed the quiet. The last several weeks had been anything but, and to have it again was more refreshing than I could say. Hell, I hadn't even been aware that Manaphy really knew _how_ to be quiet, but other than a few laughs and the occasional, "Mama! Look dat!" whenever a Pokémon crossed our path, he didn't make a sound.

Eventually, the already dim light began to get even dimmer. The sun was setting, which meant it was time to go back to the little spot I had claimed for myself in the shallower water around Hoenn. Not coincidentally, it was very near to Slateport City, where Groudon and I had had our last confrontation.

I honestly don't even remember what started that fight. I _do_ remember him goading me over something, and that I had goaded him back out of anger, but I can't remember who made the first move. I had been too blinded by rage to care, I suppose, but it seemed like a big deal to me now. Now that I had Manaphy, I really couldn't fight with him like that. That would run the risk of Manaphy getting hurt, or even killed, which was a very painful thought for some reason.

From now on, I'd have to do everything I could to, horror of horrors, somewhat get along with Groudon. Easier said than done, to be sure, though I would absolutely not allow him to walk all over me just because I was unable to attack him now that I had a baby to take care of.

And something told me he wouldn't attack me either, for that same reason. I'd never seen him around children before (unless you counted the extremely child-like Mew and Shaymin), but even if he'd been so inclined as to attack when a child was present, I doubted he'd want to risk incurring Arceus' wrath like that, not to mention Rayquaza's.

They'd have to get in line, though, because if he did _anything_ of the sort to Manaphy, I'd slaughter him.

For some reason I couldn't see him ever trying, though. Which was odd, because usually I had no trouble whatsoever imagining him doing terrible things. Perhaps I'm just biased, but it must be admitted that he is a vicious battler. I may have the type advantage between the two of us, but he still manages to stand on very equal ground with me, something that causes us both no small amount of annoyance. Then again, that was how it was supposed to go, I guess - counterparts, with us being equally powerful in our respective domains.

Ugh. These thoughts were beginning to make my good mood go sour, so I shook them off in order to concentrate on getting Manaphy to go back into his pouch. He demanded food by way of, "I'M HUNGWEE!" first, and, rolling my eyes, I set off in the shallower water to find him a patch of seaweed to eat.

Once he was satisfied, he climbed into his pouch without my having to tell him again, which was a pleasant surprise, and promptly fell asleep. I couldn't keep the smile off my face at that. It seemed that today had been a little more exciting than he was able to handle for very long, though I was happy about it too. Perhaps, once he was older and maybe a bit bigger (_if_ he ever got bigger, I wasn't exactly sure on pretty much _any_ details about his species at all), we could go even deeper.

That was definitely something to look forward to, I thought, and began my inspection of the general area before I too decided to turn in for an early rest.

Tomorrow, I would pick up on my search for the kidnapped little ones, but I was very grateful for the day I'd had nonetheless. Manaphy's bad singing included.

* * *

**AN: This chapter was fun to write, but then again, most Kyogre&Manaphy interactions are. She is on her way to being mostly used to him!**

**Also, shout out to __********Pokémon** Colosseum and _******Pokémon** Colosseum XD: Gale of Darkness_. Those are the games that the Orre region features in, and they are my favorite of all the non-main series games. They're for the Gamecube, so if you have one of those or a working Wii, I'd suggest picking up a copy because they are awesome.

**Ahem! Next chapter, the action starts up, along with some more Groudon, because seriously, he's in the character tags for this fic and has such little screentime? For shame! I'm still proofreading and generally being a perfectionist and whatnot, so it'll be at least a week before it's posted, but it'll be coming soon.**

**Thank you to everyone who is still waiting for this thing to update, and who has been so patient with me despite my horrific updating schedule. You all make my day!**


	8. In which there is pain

**Hey there! I meant to post this on Saturday, but had some stuff going on by way of friend drama and some other crap too mundane to name. So my sincerest apologies, and here it is now!**

**A bit of a warning right here: this chapter is a bit on the...bloody side. I wouldn't go so far as to call it **_**too**_** graphic, but it's always best to warn, just in case.**

**Disclaimer: All I can really claim ownership of is each Pokémon's personality, and even then only slightly. **_**Pokémon**_** itself belongs to Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri. Anything you don't recognize as canon most likely belongs to me, however.**

**Going Off The Deep End  
By: Saya Moonshadow**

Now that I had the carrying pouch for Manaphy, I could patrol the ocean for more clues about the missing babies without worrying too much for his safety. As long as he was in that pouch, he wasn't going to be in any danger of getting swiped.

My search over the next three weeks yielded very few results. Contrary to my assumptions, this was not a widespread kidnapping, apparently only having resulted in the one small area I'd been in that one night. It occurred to me that my presence might have been why the humans had targeted that particular area, but I pushed that thought out of my mind.

Honestly, how could I have known? Such a thing had never really happened before (with the possible exception of when Team Aqua went after me directly). But the least I could do was to make sure those who had been taken were returned, and I was determined to do it.

I questioned what felt like hundreds of Pokémon over those three weeks. Every time I saw someone new, I swam to them and demanded answers. A few reported seeing the submarine, but admitted that they had thought nothing of it. It was common for humans to send out expeditions to scout out the area, and they'd all gotten used to it.

Stupid interfering humans...all the problems in our world seemed to stem from them in some way or another.

"Mama!" Manaphy shouted at me, interrupting my thoughts. "I hungry!"

Glancing up at the sun through the water, I saw that it was nearly noon and thus, time for lunch. And I was a little hungry too. "Alright, alright," I said, smiling a little as he poked his head out of the pouch to pout at me. "Let's go find some food."

I pulled some seaweed up for him with my teeth and transferred it to him to gnaw on - thank Arceus I didn't have to chew it up for him like I'd feared when he'd first come to me - and decided that seaweed wasn't going to cut it for me this time. I'd been practically living off of it for the last two months now, and I was sick of it.

A Sharpedo or something was definitely in order, I thought, but where to find one? They weren't very plentiful in this part of the ocean.

With Manaphy chewing on his seaweed in the pouch, I set off in search of my own food. I hadn't gone far when I saw a rather large Sharpedo in the distance. Alright, that would be my meal, I decided, and shot towards it.

It didn't move, which I found odd, but didn't think too much of. It was probably very old to be that big, and thus probably very blind. Or maybe just stupid. I wasn't going to complain either way.

Don't look a gift Rapidash in the mouth, to use Latias' expression.

I'd gotten maybe fifteen feet away from it when Manaphy suddenly let out a horrible shriek, and the Sharpedo opened its mouth. Instead of a tongue and teeth, as I'd expected, its mouth was full of metal spikes and - _was that a cannon?!_

No, not a cannon - a harpoon. Which was, all things considered, even worse.

I knew what whaling was. Though I had been fortunate enough to never be forced to witness it for myself, I had seen several carcasses of the poor Wailmers and Wailords who'd been put through the despicable act before the human rulers finally outlawed it over 150 years ago. And none had ever _dared_ attempt to make me their target.

But I had seen the aftermath of it often enough to fear it, and in the face of it happening so suddenly, there was a split second in which I simply froze, unable to react.

I swerved as fast as possible, but not quickly enough. The harpoon hit me in the side, tearing through my flesh with an ease that would have sickened me had I not been been capable of thinking about it. I flailed, roaring with the pain, and was dimly aware of Manaphy screaming as well. It was only then that I noticed the harpoon had a rope attached to it, and the fake Sharpedo was beginning to reel me in with that rope, which was coming out of its mouth.

Manaphy's screaming managed to pull me out of the shock I was in long enough to come to the realization that if I didn't want to be captured and possibly killed, I had to get rid of the rope. The harpoon, there wasn't much I could do about. My flippers weren't exactly made for grabbing, and there was no way I'd be able to angle my head down enough to grasp it in my teeth and yank it out.

I needed help. But first...

I flailed some more, desperately pulling away from the fake Sharpedo. A burning was now coursing through my veins, and it was with a fair amount of horror that I realized the harpoon probably had some kind of poison in it. Poison that was now making its way into my body.

Damn it! Why hadn't I paid attention to the warning signs? The larger-than-average size of my prey, the lack of movement, everything!

Arceus, I was an idiot. I just hoped I survived long enough to beat myself up over it later.

Luckily, the side that the harpoon had hit was not the same one as the flipper Manaphy's pouch was strapped to. If I did get dragged in, he wouldn't be in any danger of getting crushed or thrown between the fake Sharpedo's teeth.

Alright, I had to get away before the poison immobilized me, or worse.

Ignoring the agony as best I could, I twisted my body, angling towards the rope and inadvertently digging the harpoon deeper into myself. This new position, coupled with beating my tail to try and stay away from the thing that was still reeling me in like I was some common Feebas, nearly knocked me out from how much it hurt. Instead of giving in like I wanted to, I grasped the rope in my mouth and bit down, gnawing on it furiously. It was a thick rope, but my teeth were sharp and already I could feel the fibers beginning to give way.

However, this position made it harder to beat my tail around, and we began to get dragged in, slowly but surely. Manaphy's terrified cries filled the water around me along with the smell of my own blood, and I doubled my efforts.

Closer...closer...closer...come on, Kyogre, chew faster!

_Shit!_

The final few fibers snapped between my teeth, and I did a desperate roll away from the fake Sharpedo, which almost managed to catch me between its own fangs. Now that I was really looking at it, I could clearly see that it was a fake, constructed of metal. Even still, it was well-crafted enough that I could see why I'd been fooled.

Thank Arceus that Manaphy had screamed when he did. Had he not, I would have charged headlong into that thing, and this damn harpoon would likely have been in my belly or throat instead of my side.

Still, I wondered how he'd known. Or maybe he'd just gotten scared of what he'd instinctively recognized as the slayer of his race, who knows.

Pushing that out of my head for now, I instead focused on getting the hell out of there, gritting my teeth as pain shot from the harpoon still embedded in my side with each beat of my tail. It made swimming much harder than normal, and we were going slower than I would have liked. But at least it didn't look like the fake Sharpedo was following us, which I was grateful for.

My eyes were beginning to blur, and my movements were getting sluggish, I realized dully. Damn poison...it was getting hard to see...

I had to get away before that thing attacked us again, I knew, but to where? Where were we right now?

And moreover, where would no human expect me to go while I recovered? I'd need to find someone to help me too...

The Sky Pillar was too far away, as was Alto Mare. No other Legendaries lived in this particular sector, except...

I gritted my teeth, blinking furiously to try and clear my vision. It remained wobbly, my efforts doing practically no good. Somehow, my foggy brain managed to convince itself that swallowing my pride was a worthy sacrifice to make in exchange for living, and I found myself swimming to the Cave of Origin in spite of my usual reservations.

I wasn't aware of it at the time, but later I would realize how lucky I'd been - with so much of my blood in the water, I was lucky no _real_ Sharpedos or Carvahnas had smelled it and come rushing to find me. In my current state, I wouldn't have been able to fight them off.

_Come on,_ I told myself when the swim seemed to drag on. _Come on, just a little farther..._

Was I even going in the right direction? I wasn't sure. Everything was blurring together, though from blood loss or the poison, I couldn't tell. My body was burning up, which _was_ from the poison, I knew. Had I not already been in the water, I would have been sweating buckets.

Finally, my nose hit a rock wall. Or what felt like a rock wall, anyway, I couldn't really tell. By then, my vision had completely faded, nearly sending me into a panic until I realized that it was wasting my already low energy.

But where could I go now? I couldn't see, and this could be any old rock wall. Perhaps going to the surface would help...

I began to swim in the direction that I thought was up, and after a few minutes that felt like hours, broke the surface of the water, gasping at the feel of the air against my face. I glanced around, but no use - the air hadn't cleared my sight.

Arceus, I'd really screwed up, hadn't I?

Despair began to course through me, hurting worse than both the harpoon and the poison, so much so that I almost missed Manaphy yelling, "Mama hurt! Mama hurt!" at me.

"I know 'm hur', Manaphy," I slurred, sinking back into the water. "But don' worry. Yer gonna be alrigh'...promise..."

Someone shouted my name, and I screamed as a pair of sharp claws dug into my sides, lifting me out of the water. Arceus, that _hurt!_ I thrashed weakly, desperately trying to get away from whatever had me.

"Kyogre! Kyogre, stop, it's me!" a very familiar voice broke through the haze, and when it did, I almost doubled my thrashing.

Oh...so it hadn't been _me_ Manaphy was shouting at...it was Groudon. Somehow, I'd managed to make it to the Cave of Origin, even swimming blind half the way.

And now Groudon was dragging me away from the water and lying me down on the stone floor of his cave, feeling my face with his paws. "Kyogre?" he said worriedly. Worried? Why was he so worried? "Kyogre, can you hear me? What happened to you?"

"Manaphy," I muttered back. "Get 'im outta...outta bag..."

I heard him snort in frustration, but then his paws were gently tracing over my right flipper and opening up the pouch. The next instant, something warm and wet and soft attempted to wrap itself around my snout. "Mama hurt," he whimpered.

I laughed weakly, trying not to wince at the pain it caused. "A little..."

"Kyogre," Groudon spoke again. His paws were running up and down my back soothingly, his claws barely skimming me, and I shivered at the feel of it. "What about this spear? Who did this to you?"

I blinked, even though I still couldn't see. Was it just my imagination, or did he sound _angry_ about it? "Robot Sharpedo...thing...was gonna eat it, but it shot tha' thing at me...poison...haha..."

"Poison?" He sounded alarmed. I struggled to at least pretend like I was looking him in the face, but I knew he wouldn't be fooled. He'd know I couldn't see him, and there was no point in pretending, but I didn't care. I couldn't be so weak. Not in front of _him_.

"Nothin' bad...it doesn't hurt...too much..."

He snorted, not buying it in the least.

Not like I'd expected him to, really...

"I'm going to have to take it out, Kyogre," I heard him say. "If it's poisoned, then it needs to come out, and then I'm going to clean your wound. But it's going to hurt. OK?"

"Mmmmn..." My tongue was beginning to feel numb. Or maybe I was just too exhausted to speak. Or something.

I jerked, fresh agony shooting through me as he gripped the shaft of the harpoon, jarring it. A cry slipped out of me, and I felt tears beginning to fall from my eyes.

"Stay awake, Kyogre. I need you to stay awake. Don't black out."

The only thing I was aware of besides the pain was his voice and Manaphy's warm body, which had yet to detach itself from my face. I couldn't tell exactly where he was right then, but it felt like he was on my forehead, rubbing it in an imitation of what Groudon had done earlier. I almost laughed, but couldn't summon the will or the energy.

I remember screaming and desperately choking it off, only to start screaming again as Groudon worked the harpoon out of me. It had gone in deep and had jagged edges, like a saw, which tore horribly at my flesh as he continued to pull. The whole time, he kept talking to me in that same soothing voice, saying my name and telling me to stay conscious.

"Come on, Kyogre...just a little farther, alright? It's almost out."

"Jus' a witto farder, Mama, 's a'mos' out..."

"Listen to the kid, Kyogre, he knows what he's talking about. A little more- no, no, keep your eyes open. I need you to stay awake."

"Mama wake up!"

That, I think, is the only thing that kept me conscious. Concentrating on Groudon's voice and Manaphy's need for me helped me stay awake, and thus, alive. Had I fallen asleep like I so wanted to, my heart would have slowed down too much and I would have died. By staying awake, I kept my heart pumping, though it was also pumping blood out through my wound as well.

Finally, with one last tug, Groudon pulled the harpoon all of the way out and tossed it aside with a clatter. Next, he pressed something warm and wet to my wound, and I cried out again. Arceus, that was his _tongue!_ "Sorry," he apologized, again stroking my back. One claw went to my dorsal fin, brushing against it lightly, "But I have to stop the bleeding somehow. But I don't have any bandages...damn it, all I have is this sheet..."

He was silent for a minute. I had almost dropped off to sleep when he said, "Kyogre, I'm really sorry, but can you change?"

"Wha...?" It was hard to get even that much out.

"Change into a human, I mean," he explained. "It'll shrink you and your wound down, and I can rip this thing up to make bandages for you from it. Unless you'd prefer me to lick your wound clean, of course, which I know you wouldn't."

I struggled to make sense of what he was saying, but finally got it. Turn human so he could rip up his sheet and bandage me with it, otherwise he'd clean it off with his tongue. Right. The only problem was figuring out if I had enough energy...

Without thinking, I began the transformation. Manaphy cried out as my body began to shrink, and I dimly realized that he most likely didn't understand what was going on. But I couldn't reassure him, as my vocal chords were already in the process of changing. All I could manage was a weak moan.

"It's OK," I heard Groudon say, and suddenly, Manaphy's warm body was removed from me. "She's just changing forms. Don't worry, she's still your mom. Still smells the same, right? See, you recognize her."

Groudon, why the hell was being ridiculously awkward at the worst times your special talent? I was in the middle of being in excruciating pain; the thought of you smelling me was _not_ one I needed right then.

It seemed to take forever, this changing business. What only a month earlier had taken me seconds now took so much longer because of how weak I was. But finally, I lay on the ground of the cave, panting, naked, and covered in my own blood and sweat. A few strands of my hair clung to my face and threatened to enter my mouth when I breathed.

"Here." Human hands pulled me up into a sitting position, leaning me against something warm and firm, and the sound of cloth ripping filled the air. He must have changed too, I realized, though it had probably taken him a lot less time than it had for me.

He wiped me down first, his hands feeling cold against my skin, which was still practically burning up, and making me shiver again. The fact that his hands seemed cold frightened me. He was always warm, it was in his nature to be so, whereas _I_ was supposed to be the one with the lower temperature. This being switched around meant that something was very wrong, though my foggy brain also found it almost _funny_, for some reason.

I whimpered when he pressed something onto my wound, wiping at it as gently as possible. Even still, it was painful. So, so, so painful.

"Shh, it's OK, Kyogre, I'm almost done."

Next, he began to wrap the strips of cloth he'd torn from the original sheet around my waist, binding them tightly but still with a care that would have surprised me had I been in any state to recognize it. And once that was over, I felt something heavy and warm drape around my shoulders and his hands over my chest. Instinctively, I tried to move away from him before the unmistakable sound of clasps being done up made me stop.

He'd given me the jacket he wore while in human form. It went past my knees, effectively covering me, even though it was still a little too hot. I didn't say this, however. He didn't need to give it to me in the first place, and it was kind of him to do so.

The next thing I became aware of was Manaphy's slight weight resting on my stomach, and a pair of muscular arms picking me up even as I instinctively wrapped my own arms around my charge. Groudon carried me and Manaphy over to a soft patch - more pieces of cloth? - and laid us down in it, arranging me so that I was lying on my uninjured side.

"Sleep now," I heard him say gently, and I thought I felt his hand on my face, brushing my hair out of it before I finally let myself give in to my fatigue.

I was unconscious less than two seconds later, Manaphy curling up against my stomach and whimpering softly.

* * *

**AN: ...yup. Not too much shippy stuff just yet, but that will change within the next few chapters. But at least there was more Groudon! I've missed him. And yes, the next chapter is much lighter. This is probably the darkest one in the whole fic (at least as far as I've brainstormed). This may or may not change, so we'll just have to see how it plays out. (And yes, for those of you who are waiting for some more Groudon&Manaphy interactions, those are coming too.)  
**

**Ah, Kyogre. I'm sorry for doing this to you D: You'll get better soon, I promise.**

**Thank you for the lovely reviews, and once again, my apologies for the slight delay of this chapter! The next one will be up in about a week!  
**


	9. In which Groudon worries

**Happy Father's Day, everybody!**

**Disclaimer: All I can really claim ownership of is each Pokémon's personality, and even then only slightly. **_**Pokémon**_** itself belongs to Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri. Anything you don't recognize as canon most likely belongs to me, however.**

**Going Off The Deep End  
By: Saya Moonshadow**

"What happened to her? Is she alright?"

"With enough rest, she will be. As for what happened, I'm still not sure. She mentioned something about a...a robotic Sharpedo, but beyond that, I don't really know."

"What about Manaphy? Have you tried asking him?"

"He's a baby, Rayquaza."

"So you did...and I'm guessing you were unable to understand each other?"

"...yeah, pretty much. Soon as Kyogre wakes up, I'll question her again."

"Don't do anything stupid, Groudon. We need to think about this logically and calmly. Don't let your feelings get in the way and make you do something you'll regret later."

"How can you say that? My counterpart was almost _killed_ the other day! Arceus, it was...I just...how would you feel if it were Latias instead, huh?"

"That...is irrelevant. Completely...irrelevant. For now, we must concentrate on keeping Kyogre alive long enough to shake off the combined effects of the poison and her wound."

"I know that. That's why I called you here, because you have antidotes and I don't."

"Don't be a smartass."

"I'm not. What I _am_ is worried about our counterpart and whether or not she'll survive this."

A derisive snort. "She's survived similar injuries from you, Groudon. Not only that, she's smart enough to know to find help in case of such an injury."

"That's not what worries me."

"What _does_ worry you, then? The antidote has been administered. You gave it to her yourself, and you have done a fine job of keeping her from bleeding to death. She will recover. What else is there to worry about?"

"What worries me is that we don't know who did this to her! The harpoon's right here, see? It's got a rope attached to it; from what I can tell, she must have chewed through it. That along with the poison means whoever stuck her with this thing wasn't trying to kill her: they were trying to _capture_ her."

"Hm...I will report this news to Arceus. Will you be coming along, or do you want to stay here?"

"I'm staying."

"Suit yourself. I will be back tomorrow to check on you."

"Yeah, whatever. And...thanks for the antidotes."

"You are welcome. My apologies for not being able to do anything more."

The voices faded, or perhaps it was me that faded, and I fell back into unconsciousness again.

* * *

The next time I woke up, it was because someone was pressing a cold, wet cloth to my forehead, the change in temperature causing me to awaken. I opened my eyes, and was surprised when I realized I could see again, albeit still blurrily.

"You're awake. Good."

I turned my gaze upward to meet a pair of yellow eyes set in a dark-skinned face that stared down at me with concern. Seeing those eyes, my heart skipped a beat. "How are you feeling? Any better? Can you see?"

"Mm." I nodded slightly, the action making my head throb. "Headache..."

"Don't move too much," he advised, wiping the sweat off my forehead with the cloth. Wonderfully cool and wet cloth... "I've given you an antidote, but there may still be some poison in you, and moving around will only make it circulate again. And...you've lost a lot of blood. You'll have to stay here for a while until you're better."

At any other time, I would have protested this with every fiber of my being, but at the current point I was too tired to even be annoyed. Instead, I gave another noncommittal grunt which he seemed to take as an affirmative.

He continued wiping my face with the cloth, for which I was grateful. I was still entirely too hot, and the cool cloth was a welcome relief.

At my request, he went and brought me some water, helping me sit up enough to drink it properly, though he didn't let me gulp it down as I'd wanted to. I had to sip it, and slowly, otherwise I'd just make myself sick, he explained sternly when I protested.

"Jeez, Ky, I would have thought you'd know this, what with being the 'queen of the ocean', and all."

"Nnnn...smartass," I muttered, and shivered when his laugh sent the vibrations of it right through me. Hearing him laugh was...strangely pleasing to my still-foggy brain. Maybe it was just because it reassured me that I was really alright, or maybe it was because it was the first laugh I'd heard since being speared through the side. I refused to consider that it might be because it was _him_ laughing.

I liked his laugh, but not the fact that he was laughing...yeah, that was it...

"By the way," he said once his chuckling had died down, "what does that thing of yours eat? I've brought him virtually everything I can think of, and the only thing he'd touch was the lettuce."

That thing of mine? What thing...oh. Manaphy. Odd...when had I stopped thinking of him as "it" and "the thing"? "Seaweed," I said thickly. "He likes seaweed."

I saw Groudon grimace at my words. "You let him eat that crap? Huh...well fine. I'll get him some when I go out."

Go out? Go where? Where would he go to get seaweed? Groudon didn't know how to swim in his natural form, and it was too far down for him to reach in his human form. Did he honestly mean, then, that he'd go to a human market and get seaweed from there? But that made no sense; Groudon had disliked humans even before the incident with Team Magma and Team Aqua...why would he subject himself to them like that?

If that was even what he was planning, of course. I didn't know.

"S'all he'll eat," I replied to his question. "Doesn't like much else."

"Hm. Well, whatever. Listen, you should go back to sleep now, alright? I'll be back soon."

I struggled to maintain eye contact as he laid me back down again. And that was another thing: just what was I lying on top of that was so soft? "Wh...where...?"

"I'm just going out to get food, Kyogre, don't worry. Your thing is asleep right now as well, before you ask, so don't worry. He's literally not even two feet away from you. Now go to sleep."

So I did.

* * *

When I awoke next, Groudon was still not back from his trip to get food. Only a few hours at most had passed, which was good. I had gathered from before that I had slept for quite a long time (a few days, maybe?), and the fact that I was apparently no longer doing so was a relief.

I also realized that I was sweating, and that it was horribly hot. Of course, I was used to cooler temperatures, and Groudon's heavy, dark red jacket wasn't helping matters any. I had enough presence of mind to remember that I was naked underneath it and so should not take it off, but I at least wanted to unzip it a little. Anything to let some air in and cool myself down.

With clumsy fingers, I managed to undo the clasps and grip the zipper and pull it down to about mid-chest. Still not quite enough, but already I wasn't feeling so much like I was about to die from heat stroke. Much better.

"Mama!"

And with that, something blue and squishy landed on my stomach, which hurt. A lot.

I yelped as it jarred the wound on my side, shoving Manaphy off and curling into a ball, holding my side and biting my lip to keep from screaming again. Arceus, that hurt!

Manaphy's arm touched my face, and I looked up to see that his eyes were swimming with tears. His bottom lip trembled. All in all, warning signs that he was about to start crying.

Gingerly, I unfolded my arms from around myself and reached for him. He let me drag him towards myself, then buried his face into my shoulder as I hugged him, his arms going around my neck as he started sobbing. "It's OK, Manaphy," I murmured, stroking his back. His tiny body heaved with the force of his cries, and I felt my own heart hurting from how scared he seemed to be.

"I'm alright," I assured him, and he drew back to look at me with big, tear-filled eyes. "Just be careful, OK? Mama's still a little sore."

He nodded and stood back as I unzipped the rest of Groudon's jacket in order to check my bandages. They were fine, as it turned out, and only a little bloodstained. I noticed that they were also _real_ bandages and not the remnants of torn sheets, which meant Groudon must have changed them at some point. Maybe Rayquaza had brought them over with the antidotes.

All of this also meant that Groudon had seen my human form completely unclothed more than once now. A strange feeling settled into my stomach. He had _touched_ me while I was unclothed. Now, I was used to going without clothes, as I was a Pokémon and didn't wear them in my true form, but I hated being seen without them in my human form. Call it instinct or whatever, but there you have it.

Not only had he seen me naked, he'd also given me his jacket. The jacket that Entei had given him to wear as a human and which he treasured. I was naked, in his cave, sleeping in his nest, and wearing his jacket.

...

I'd never be able to live this one down. If any of the others found out, I'd probably die of mortification. Hell, I was ready to die of mortification right now, and only Rayquaza currently knew. And maybe Arceus, but she wasn't a gossiper and wouldn't tell anyone any more than that I was wounded and in an undisclosed location until I had recovered.

"Oh no," I moaned, rolling over onto my back and laying an arm over my face. The other one was still currently clutched around Manaphy, who was once again back to the clinging stage of his life. "I'm gonna die."

I was so wrapped up in my own embarrassment that I didn't even notice the footsteps coming towards us until a quickly choked off gasp hit my ears. I looked up and saw nothing. Frowning, I then looked toward the land entrance to the cave.

Groudon was there, still in human form, and he was staring at me, an expression of shock and something else I couldn't decipher on his face. It was then that I realized the position I was in. Sweating, lying on my back, the jacket unzipped and splayed around my unclothed-except-for-some-measly-bandages body.

I felt my face heating up, but with as much dignity as I could muster, I reached back down and zipped the jacket up. Which was difficult, given the shakiness of my hands. But I forced myself to zip it all the way up, because otherwise, I would have had to ask either Manaphy (who didn't know a zipper from a chew toy) or Groudon (who was completely out of the question now) to help me with it.

Not going to happen.

I rolled back around so that I was resting on my uninjured side, trying to give the appearance of being completely unruffled. My face was still hot, but at least Groudon was now back to normal. Or as back to normal as was possible for his human form. He wasn't glaring at me, but at least he no longer looked like he was about to pass out.

"Um, hi," I said. "...what's up?"

Arceus, I really couldn't think of anything to say...how awkward...

To my relief, Groudon was carrying what looked like bags full of food, and I gladly focused on those. "Is that food?"

He laughed slightly, which made me feel weird all over again for some reason, and came over, sitting down next to me. Out of one bag, he pulled a clump of wet seaweed for Manaphy, who squealed and dove at it, actually letting go of me to do so. I know, I was shocked too. Out of another, he pulled a container of...something steaming. I felt my mouth water when the smell of it hit me, and I became aware that I hadn't eaten in a long time. Damn, but I was hungry.

"It's soup," Groudon explained, uncapping the container. "I asked Rayquaza, and he said it's best to have liquids when you're sick or injured. So here you go! Some kind of human soup. Corn chowder, I think it was called."

Whatever it was, it smelled delicious, and I wanted it.

He helped me sit up and, refusing to let me go and instead just having me lean into his chest, also helped me eat. My hands were still too shaky to properly hold any of those utensils by themselves, but even if I'd been well, I wouldn't have been able to hold _anything_ right with him holding me the way he was.

One arm was around my waist and holding the container of soup, the other holding the spoon. And he fed me. I gave a few protests, but he wasn't having any of that, and to be honest, I was too hungry to argue for longer than a minute or so.

Once Manaphy was done scarfing down his seaweed, he crawled over and decided to try and help Groudon feed me. Needless to say, he yelled when Groudon refused to relinquish the spoon, and once he had it, the remainder of the soup went flying _everywhere_. The floor, my face, my chest, my legs, Groudon's face and chest and arms (which he'd used to try and cover up his face, to little avail), the pool of water we'd emerged from a few days earlier, the walls, himself...

I sighed, wiping a glob of soup off my face and gazing dismally down at the dirtied jacket. "Sorry. He doesn't know any better."

"It's fine." I glanced up at Groudon, unbelieving, and then stopped just as I was about to ask if it was really alright, my mouth falling open in shock. I couldn't believe it. Instead of going to the pool of water and washing it off, he had brought one of his hands up and was _licking_ the soup off of it. I felt myself going hot all over again as his tongue lapped it up and he smiled at the taste. I had to look away, snapping my mouth shut quickly. It felt like there was heat actually _pouring_ into my stomach.

Instead, I chose to concentrate on the soup still staining the jacket I was currently wearing. It would need to come off or it would stain. I mentioned this to Groudon, and he left off licking his hand (for which I was grateful) and brought over towels, some of which were wet.

I made him let me clean myself off - yeah, like I was going to let him touch me any more than what was absolutely necessary. He'd touched me too much already; I had to put a stop to it.

Instead of just cleaning himself off with the towels like a normal person, Groudon ate the rest of the soup off of his hands and _then_ used the towels. I suppose I should have expected that, though. When Groudon was involved, no food was ever wasted.

Even as a human, that seemed to be the case.

He then cleaned the rest of the mess off the walls and floor and lightly scolded Manaphy for it, and to my surprise, Manaphy actually looked like he was _ashamed_. That had _never_ happened before.

Groudon looked over at me and laughed at my expression. "We've come to an agreement," he said. "In exchange for my not eating him, he's agreed to listen to me. Good, hm?"

His tone was light, which let me know that he was joking. Which was a good thing. If I'd thought for an instant that he was really going to try eating my Manaphy, I'd have turned back into my normal form like _that_ and Surfed him to hell and back, near-fatal injuries be _damned_.

"Perhaps I should have tried that tactic, then," I said in a similar light tone. "Maybe then he'd listen to me when I tell him not to eat so much."

Groudon shrugged. "He's a baby, Ky. Babies are going to be difficult to deal with, even for the best parent in the world."

Pffft, as if he had any experience.

"I see it all the time in the caves," he went on.

Leave it to Groudon to contradict me a second later...grumble...

"Parents have to be extra careful in here. You never know what's going to try and grab your kid next. 'Course, no one ever dares to come in _here_ so Manaphy's safe, but yeah. You get the idea. Kids in these caves learn real quick to listen to their parents, or they'll wind up getting hurt." He glanced at me. "The ocean's probably like that too, huh?"

I nodded, though something else was beginning to bother me. "Do...do you...understand him?" He'd told Rayquaza that he didn't a few days ago, so how on earth would he know what Manaphy was going on about now?

Groudon grinned, first at me and then at Manaphy, who grinned back. "I couldn't at first, but it just takes practice, doesn't it? We're pals now."

"Pals!" Manaphy echoed, waving his arms.

Another new word he'd learned, and I hadn't been conscious to hear it first.

It surprised me how sheerly disappointing it was to miss even a moment of his growing up process. I'd seen virtually everything else, and missing him learning to speak some new words was...strange.

"He's pretty articulate for a baby," Groudon added. "Already he's informed me that I'm an ignoramus. Quite the impressive word for him to learn. I can't wait to hear him try it out on Rayquaza."

I couldn't help but laugh, despite feeling a little embarrassed. I'd called him an ignoramus plenty of times to his face, so why did it embarrass me to know that my baby was telling him about it (and also because obviously I was the one to teach him the word)? Probably because that made it seem like I was talking badly about him behind his back. Argh. What was it with Manaphy and making me question myself all the time?!

And so Groudon had made friends with my baby. What was this world coming to?

We weren't fighting for once, either! He wasn't calling me names, or attempting to hit me with an Earthquake or a Blast Burn, and I wasn't trying to do him away with Surf or Sheer Cold. Instead, we were actually kind of getting along!

And he was touching me. Willingly and without complaint.

And I was _letting_ him touch me. Again, without (too much) complaint.

It was a lot to wrap my head around.

"Um, how much longer will it take for me to heal?" I asked, to clear my head of these thoughts. "I have things to do."

"Hm...probably not for another week or so, I think." Alright, so that wasn't too bad, especially considering that we Legendaries tended to heal pretty fast, but still! That was too long!

His eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Ah, _there_ was the look I knew so well...it was back! Strangely, I found myself missing the smile, though it _was_ a relief to see him acting at least a little more normally now.

"Why? Are you really that eager to get away from me?" he asked with a smirk.

I puffed my cheeks out. "No!" I snapped, before I could stop myself. "I'm _not_ that eager to get away from you, but I have children to look for and rescue from a bunch of kidnapping humans!"

I stopped when Groudon's eyes darkened, though whether it was from anger or something else, I couldn't tell. He was looking at me seriously now, yellow eyes all but scorching me. "Are those the same humans that hurt you, Kyogre?"

Difficult question to answer, that. I honestly didn't know the answer, and I told him so. He grunted with frustration, and now I could clearly see the old Groudon in him. The cranky one who I didn't get along with just from the sheer opposite-ness we had going on.

"It's a good chance that it was the same people," I admitted, making him look at me. "But I don't know. It _does_ seem a little out there to imagine _two_ dangerous groups at large at the same time. Again, anyway, but yeah. Most likely it's the same people. If so, then they know about Manaphy, but I doubt they know what he really _is_..."

Groudon listened to me as I rambled, still looking at me with those eyes, and suddenly I knew the emotion that had darkened them.

Worry.

He was worried.

About me.

_Me!_

Groudon was worried about me. Holy shit. I'd never seen him worry about me before, even if there _was_ a healthy dose of anger in there as well.

Bah, not like I needed him to worry about me. I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself, especially now that I was wiser to this mystery group's tricks. They wouldn't be catching _me_ off-guard again, that was for sure.

But still, this was serious. When pushed, Groudon grudgingly admitted that he thought they had been trying to capture me, not kill me at all, as I had originally thought. And if they were trying to capture me without the use of the Red Orb, then, well...that was bad. It would be bad if they'd gotten hold of the Red Orb as well, but the fact that they were willing to injure me so badly was troubling.

It also stood to reason that they might go after Groudon and/or Rayquaza as well, which I was sure was part of his worry. It had only been a year or so since the Archie and Maxie incident, we didn't need another so soon.

But what Groudon seemed angriest about was my injury. After the earlier incident when he came back with the food, he didn't look at it (or at my body in general, really; he seemed to be making a point of keeping his eyes trained firmly on my face), but his fingers twitched whenever it was mentioned, as though he wanted to...oh, I don't know, check the bandages or something. Or maybe he just missed having claws. It must be easier to vent with those things than with weak human hands.

And boy, did those things _hurt_. He'd hit me with a couple Slash attacks in our past battles, and blood had literally flown. Thank Arceus he usually preferred to just try and bury me under dirt or roast me, because those claws of his actually made me more nervous than his other powers.

Weird, huh?

* * *

**AN: Ah, I love writing Groudon. He's a massive amount of fun. And oh hey, they're kind of getting along! Of course, part of this is simply because Kyogre is still recovering from her injury, but it's a start.**

**Just a heads up: The weekend after next, I will most likely _not_ be able to update, since I'm going to be at Anime Expo with a couple friends. Chapter 11 will be nice and long to make up for that, though. **

**As usual, thank you all for reading! Please review and let me know what you think!**


	10. In which Kyogre has an awkward dream

**...did I say after this week I wouldn't be able to update? I actually meant two weeks from now. The first week of July. That's what I meant. I apparently had my dates all mixed up, but I'M GETTING IT RIGHT THIS TIME. So yeah. Next week there will be an update, and next **_**next**_** week there won't be. Sorry for the mix-up! D:**

**Disclaimer: All I can really claim ownership of is each Pokémon's personality, and even then only slightly. **_**Pokémon**_** itself belongs to Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri. Anything you don't recognize as canon most likely belongs to me, however.**

**Going Off The Deep End  
By: Saya Moonshadow**

Over the next few days, I became convinced that Manaphy was holding out on me.

Oh, he still loved me. He made that clear pretty much every other second. But I was surprised at how he seemed to thrive in this environment, even though we weren't in the water. The lack of water was driving me insane, and since he was pretty much _made_ of it, I would have thought it would be the same for him.

But no, as long as he was able to take a dive into the pool in Groudon's cave whenever he wanted (with certain restrictions, of course), he was totally fine. Whenever he did this, I would force myself to crawl over to supervise, and I was pleased at how well he already swam.

When he wasn't swimming, Manaphy was bothering me. And when he wasn't bothering me, he was harassing Groudon, who...didn't seem to mind it much.

And speaking of Groudon, I envied him. Unless it was time to change my bandages, he stayed in his regular, giant lizard form. Whereas I was still stuck as a puny human woman. And he used this to tease me whenever possible.

On the third day, he picked me up in his claws, holding me up to his face, which of course was smirking. "You know, I think I like you this way," he said. "You're tiny."

"As soon as I'm able, I am going to _kill_ you," I growled back, though I remained still. Falling from this height if he dropped me would _hurt_. And I had had enough of pain for a lifetime.

He merely laughed and carefully put me back down into the nest of sheets he'd made for me. Contrary to what I'd thought before, Groudon had no bed or nest. No real one, anyway. He slept pretty much where he damn well pleased, though he refused to sleep anywhere near me. He rarely moved in his sleep, he explained when I asked why he was laying down on the other side of the room, but all the same, he didn't want to risk rolling over on top of me and crushing me to death, as tempting as that might be to do.

In response to that one, I'd covered Manaphy's eyes and stuck up my middle finger.

We still argued. A lot. But our arguments no longer went anywhere near bloodshed. Part of this, I'm sure, had to do with my still being stuck in puny human woman form, but another part of it was...well, I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure why the mere sight of Groudon suddenly no longer filled me with anger.

It still _annoyed_ me, sure, but these days, it took actually being provoked to get me to snap at him.

I was also surprised with how Manaphy never seemed to say Groudon's name. Groudon himself had brought this up to me first, saying he'd tried to teach Manaphy his name so the thing would stop yelling "YOU!" whenever he wanted his attention, but all efforts were apparently in vain.

This was odd, as Manaphy had learned Rayquaza and Latias's names well enough (La-La and 'Quaza, in case you were wondering). I, of course, was "Mama". But all Groudon seemed to warrant, as far as I could tell, was "YOU!". And random advanced words aside, Manaphy never gave me an answer that I could decipher.

Still, it was hilarious watching him call Groudon an ignoramus - or rather, an "ignamus". Arceus, he made me proud sometimes, he did.

Other than that, Groudon and Manaphy got along surprisingly well. I could usually figure out what my charge was trying to say, but Groudon would carry on full conversations with him, and, I wager, often made up responses that he just _thought_ Manaphy was giving, regardless of the actual meaning.

I'm not likely to forget waking up on the fourth morning to Groudon saying, "How d'you eat that stuff, shrimp? It looks like shriveled dead Tangelas. _Wet_ shriveled dead Tangelas."

Manaphy replied with a "Da!"

"Go suck some eggs? Bah, you're just as rude as your mom."

"Mama good!"

"I'm sure she is. Doesn't mean she's not rude t'me, though."

"Ignamus!"

"Hey! Get over here and say that to my face!"

Alright, that did it. I wasn't able to resist giggling, and when I opened my eyes, both of them were looking at me, Manaphy with a happy smile and Groudon with his usual exasperation. "Nice kid you've got here, Kyogre," he said, tail swishing in agitation. "Real nice."

I smirked. "I've taught him well," I said, and started stretching. Groudon looked away as I did, which made me frown. Several times when I started moving around, he looked away, and it was starting to get annoying. I realized that my being in human form was obviously uncomfortable for him, being that he disliked humans, but really. _He_ was the one who'd told me to transform and also the one who refused to let me turn back until I had healed, so it was his own fault that he was uncomfortable here. Hell, maybe if he'd turn back into his own human form, he'd be more at ease with me in mine.

Groudon glanced back at me and, seeing me frowning at him, grinned. "Hungry?" he asked.

My stomach chose that moment to start growling loudly. I sighed and poked at it. "What do you think?"

In way of answering, he very carefully set a bag in front of me. His claws had poked holes in the plastic, I saw with amusement, but refrained from making fun of it. Instead, I took it, thanked him, and set about attacking the food he'd brought me.

And can you guess what it was?

Yup, soup. Again. I was starting to get really friggin' sick of soup.

Nonetheless, I wolfed it down. Manaphy was halfway through a great clump of seaweed, which I supervised in between. After a few minutes, I reached out to him. "Manaphy, that's enough. You're going to get sick if you eat any more."

Manaphy looked back at me, his expression forlorn. But he shoveled another paw-full of seaweed into his mouth.

I narrowed my eyes. "Manaphy. Enough. You'll make yourself sick."

He looked at me, then down at the seaweed, then back at me again, obviously torn. Still wanting to eat, but also knowing if he continued, then he'd get in trouble.

"Listen to your mom," Groudon's deep voice spoke up suddenly, making both of us look at him. His eyes were fixed sternly on Manaphy. "Gimme the seaweed. You can finish it later."

And to my complete and utter surprise, Manaphy picked up a clump of the seaweed and held it out to Groudon. Groudon took it, scooped up the rest, and shoved it back into the bag, nearly ripping it with his claws. He grumbled at this, but then carefully deposited the bag in a high niche in the cave wall.

I stared. My eyes followed him as he made his way to the niche and deposited it, and they continued to follow him as he went back to sit by Manaphy again. He noticed this and gave me an odd look. "What?"

"How did you...?" I began, but stopped.

"Get him to listen? Easy. Let him know you're not gonna take any crap, but that it's still his and he'll be able to have it again later. That's what he was worried about, that you were gonna take it and not give it back. There, simple."

Huh. Simple, was it? If it was, then I decided to try it out later and see for myself if it really worked, or if it was just Groudon.

He was really surprising me lately. How on earth did he know all this stuff? OK, yes, he'd told me he'd seen a lot of parenting going on in the caves, but still...before, he'd always given off the impression of "Overheat now, ask questions never". All these new quirks of his were just plain weird.

He left the cave a few minutes later, but to do what, I wasn't sure. He'd done this every day after I woke up from being speared in the side. He wasn't just getting food; that took him an hour at the longest. No, these trips were longer, much longer.

And I was bored out of my mind. I didn't have anything to do except look after Manaphy. And though I desperately wanted to take a dip in the pool of water, I still couldn't risk getting these bandages wet. I was regaining my strength, but standing up still proved a huge challenge for me. I could sit up, and I could crawl and stand if need be, but walking was still a little beyond me.

Manaphy decided he wanted to go swimming, so I hauled myself up and crawled towards the water as quickly as possible. I hated crawling. It made me feel like some sort of lesser creature, and Arceus knows Groudon laughed almost until he died the first time he saw me do it. I had merely stuck my nose in the air and ignored him, though it took virtually all my willpower not to retaliate somehow.

Once I reached the water's edge, I peered into it. My reflection, to my faint dismay, was still that of a young human woman with long, wavy blue hair. As far as humans go, I suppose I was pretty, but still nothing that could exactly be called special. My fellow female Legendaries were much better-looking in their human forms. And in their normal forms, too. In _my_ normal form, I was a giant whale, complete with blubber and everything.

Dialga was pretty big too, yes, but she still had that quality about her that at the very least made you think, _Wow, she's amazing._ Me, I was lucky if no one poked fun at me, as Groudon had done that day when I was first saddled with Manaphy. Damn Arceus, why'd she go and have to make me like this? My weight was the worst of it, though. Touchy about my appearance I was usually not, but being taunted about something enough will naturally make it a rather sore subject for you, and my weight in my true form had become that. As I had told Palkia that day, I was not fat, and my weight was proportional to my size. But that didn't stop me from getting angry whenever I was teased about it, though luckily this didn't happen often, possibly because I tended to hit whoever did with a Waterfall attack.

My reflection was distorted when Manaphy jumped into the water, making waves and splashing me in the face. I wiped the water off with the sleeve of the jacket I was _still_ wearing and gave him a mock-glare. He giggled and splashed about some more.

I couldn't pretend I wasn't fond of him by now. I _was_ fond of him. Very much so, if I were to be honest with myself. He still drove me up the wall, but at least I no longer thought of him as some nuisance I was forced to put up with until further notice.

I smiled and leaned on my elbows as he continued to paddle around the water, having a grand old time and babbling to himself, as children are wont to do. As far as I could tell, he was pretending to be some sort of hero and was keeping the Pokémon of the ocean - namely me, I saw with a laugh - safe from bad metal things. One word I caught quite frequently was "Da!". Manaphy had a lot of words that were more gibberish than actual words, but I could usually figure out their meaning. This one, though...I had no idea.

After a minute of coming up blank, I decided to test it out. "Manaphy!" I called. "Da!"

He darted upwards and looked around, then looked at me, a disappointed expression on his face. "No da!" he said.

This was getting more confusing by the second. Was "da!" a thing, then?

I shrugged it off for now. I'd figure it out later.

Once Manaphy decided he'd had enough of swimming, I lifted him out of the pool and he followed me as I crawled with as much dignity as possible back to my nest of sheets. Going by my own internal clock, I surmised that it was now past noon. Thus, it was past Manaphy's nap time.

Thank Arceus for nap time. It meant I had at least an hour of time to myself, _without_ a hyperactive blue speck running around and yelling "MAMA!" at the top of its lungs.

Not that I really had anything to do around here, being that I was stuck until further notice and hadn't been comfortable asking Groudon to bring anything back for me when he went out. Rather than just be bored, I decided to take a nap as well. There was nothing better to do, and I was feeling lazy.

So why not?

Once I was sure Manaphy was asleep next to me, I laid down and went to sleep as well.

* * *

_It was an odd dream, this. Somehow I knew I was dreaming, but just didn't care._

_I was still in Groudon's cave, but Manaphy was nowhere to be found. But I barely registered this; Manaphy was alright, I knew. I didn't know where he was, but he was alright._

_I couldn't concentrate on Manaphy right now, because Groudon was in front of me, and he was...different. There was no exasperation in his gaze, or anger, or anything bad. He was smiling at me again, and it set my heart beating at an almost painful rate._

_There was entirely too much happiness in that smile, but rather than worry about that, I smiled back._

_It barely even registered that I was back in my normal form, and he was, of course, in his normal form as well._

_He took a step towards me, and I pushed myself backwards, on the ground and not floating as I usually did. He continued to step towards me, and I continued to push backwards, until he had me cornered against something soft and white that I instinctively knew to be the nest of sheets he'd made me._

"_Kyogre," he said in that deep, rumbling voice, and I felt a shiver go through my spine. "Kyogre."_

_He put his claws on my face, and I winced as one accidentally punctured my skin. A small rivulet of blood ran down from the wound. Groudon jerked his claws away and glared at them, looking stricken. "I'm sorry, Kyogre," he said. "I can't touch you like this."_

_And suddenly, we were in our human forms. For some reason, I hardly noticed or really cared; it all just seemed so natural. One thing I DID notice, however, was that he was fully clothed and all I had were tattered bandages covering a nonexistent wound. I hurried to cover myself up, but he grabbed my wrists and held them still._

_I forced myself to look at him. Even in a dream, I wouldn't let him get to me like this. Besides, he'd already seen me unclothed anyway, what would this matter?_

_Except that it did, in some way that I couldn't comprehend. He was smiling again, gripping my shoulders now. "There," he said. "Now I can touch you."_

_He leaned towards me-_

_And suddenly, there was red all around me, red staining his jacket an even darker red, red staining my bandages, staining my pale skin and his darker skin and he was still smiling and leaning towards me and I was screaming as his hands slid down my shoulders and towards my waist._

"_I like you, Kyogre," he said, running his hand over my wound. "This is going to hurt. I really like you, Kyogre."_

_He gripped something in my side, and there was pain all over again; the harpoon was stuck in me and he was grabbing it and telling me he liked me while pulling on it, and while he was doing this, another voice was screaming, "MAMA! MAMA! MAMA!" over and over and over again as I bled and hurt and yet somehow didn't die._

"_It's OK, Kyogre, I have you," Groudon said, and then the harpoon was gone and my bandages were pristine and white, and my wound was back to being half-healed. Only now, he was kneeling in the nest of sheets, and I was sitting on his legs, facing him. My body felt weak; I couldn't move properly; my arms were sluggish and slow, and yet it didn't matter that I still wasn't properly clothed._

_I sighed and let him pull me closer. I couldn't explain the feeling of safety I had, and once again, it wasn't such a big issue. I can't say I even really noticed it._

_It just WAS. It was happening, and that was all I knew about it._

_He shifted, and I moaned, my body naturally arching as places that I had never paid attention to before were rubbed against the rough material of his clothes. I heard him laugh, his rough hands sliding down my back, lower and lower. He leaned me backwards till I was on the floor, crawling over me and gripping my hips hard enough to bruise. One hand remained behind me, and pushed me against him. Instinctively, my legs tightened around his waist._

_Friction, oh, the friction..._

"_I want you, Kyogre," Groudon sighed, except now Groudon was Archie, and I was on the floor and scrambling upright while he walked towards me. He threw an Ultra Ball at me, and it sucked me inside it, even though I was still in human form. I struggled, rage and fear clouding my mind, but he had the Blue Orb and it was also bending me to its will; between it and the Ultra Ball, I couldn't break free._

_Archie picked up the Ultra Ball with me inside it, grinning at me, but he wasn't Archie anymore._

_He was Russell now, and Russell grinned and his fingers were like the bars of a cage. "I have you, Kyogre," Russell said in Archie's voice, and I screamed._

_Over the sound of my own voice, I could hear someone else, someone who was still screaming, "MAMA! MAMA! MAMA!" over and over and over again, someone who desperately needed me to be there for them._

"_I want that thing, Kyogre," Russell said, still in Archie's voice, and I, back in my normal form now, was suddenly no longer in the Ultra Ball, but floating in front of him and facing a small, blue thing with enormous blue eyes and two long antennae on top of its head. "I want it."_

"_It's mine!" growled another voice, and another man materialized in the shadows behind Manaphy. I couldn't properly see this man, but he spoke in Maxie's voice, and he too was holding an Ultra Ball. Clutched in his other hand was the Red Orb._

_Groudon was there now, standing in front of that man and ready to do battle for him, and it was just like before. He glared at me and I glared at him, and Manaphy continued to cry for me, but I couldn't go to him because I hadn't been ORDERED to, and the Blue Orb still had me in its grasp._

"_Get me that thing, Groudon!" the shadowy man said in Maxie's voice, just as Russell said in Archie's, "I want it, Kyogre, it's mine!"_

_But that wasn't an order to move, and instead I watched helplessly as Groudon advanced on my baby. "Groudon!" I wanted to shout, "Groudon, stop!" but my tongue was frozen. I couldn't move._

_And suddenly, Latios was there, holding the Soul Dew in his paws. "Don't you want him, Kyogre?" he asked. No one else paid him the slightest attention. It was as if only I could see him. "Don't you love him?"_

"_Yes!" I tried to say, but my voice was still locked up inside me._

"_Then MOVE!" Latios shouted, and then he was gone and the Soul Dew fell, shattering when it hit the dark, hard ground below._

_Now the sound of Latias's crying was added to the din, and Rayquaza's voice was roaring, "I RELEASE YOU!"_

_I found I could move again, and when I did, I barreled towards Manaphy and Groudon. I grabbed my baby, just as Groudon slashed at me with his claws._

_I hit the floor, the wound in my side having been reopened. Manaphy was still crying, and so was Latias, and now Groudon was crouching by me, his face the picture of horror. His claws caressed me, and they didn't cut me a single time._

"_I'm sorry!" he cried. "Kyogre, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"_

_But it didn't matter because I was bleeding and there was something soft and white beneath me, and Manaphy was still crying, and-_

A splash of cold water hit me right in the face, and I jerked upright, sputtering and coughing. Something pressed down on me, and I began to thrash, still caught in my dream.

"Kyogre! Kyogre, stop it, it's me! It's ME!"

"Mama stop!"

I stopped thrashing and blinked open my eyes, which felt scratchy for some reason. I was only half-aware of the fact that I had apparently been crying in my sleep, busy focusing on Groudon and Manaphy. I stared at them.

They'd thrown _water_ on me. Water. On me.

Judging by the way Groudon's claws were dripping while one of them was still pressing me down, I would have to say that he was the one who threw it on me. I scowled and slapped at him. He let me up, giving me a smirk. "What's the matter?" he asked. "Had a bad dream, huh?"

Yes, I had, but I wasn't about to let _him_ know what it was about. Or that he had all but felt me up in it.

_Arceus!_ I had _let_ him practically feel me up in my dream. Even in dreams, that shouldn't happen. I could feel my face threatening to get hot again, but pushed it away with as much effort as possible.

_Do not look embarrassed. You are not embarrassed. Absolutely not._

"These are _happy_ tears," I said huffily in response to his questions. "I dreamed that...uh, Arceus decided she'd had enough of you and banished you to the Distortion World with Giratina forever."

Groudon glared, successfully distracted.

OK, not the nicest thing to say to the guy who'd saved my life and then let me stay in his cave while I recovered _and_ put up with my kid, but what else was I supposed to say? _"Nnngh, yes, Groudon, I dreamed that you felt me up and told me you liked me, and then we were captured again. Oh, and then you tried to take Manaphy and sliced me open with those can openers of yours when I tried to stop you. Yup, great dream, wasn't it?"_

Nuh-uh. He wasn't getting _any_ of that out of me.

"You said my name," he said accusingly. I froze. _Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Please tell me that this was when he was going after Manaphy on that unknown freak's orders and NOT when I was in his lap..._

"A-and what did I do right after that?" I asked, desperately trying to stay and sound calm. _Calm down, Kyogre, it's OK, there's no way-_

He grunted. "Screamed like a Misdreavus after a human."

I let out a sigh of relief. "See, there you go. The mere sight of you was enough to get me screaming - stop laughing!" I felt my face going hot as he ignored my order completely. Damn innuendos. And damn Groudon, who had apparently been spending too much time with Raikou and Giratina.

"Sorry, but you set yourself up for that one," he snickered, wiping carefully at one eye. "Arceus, that was hilarious."

"I hate you," I muttered, and pulled Manaphy into my arms to give myself something to do besides glare.

In truth, I was surprised to see him so lighthearted. Usually, he was extremely grumpy and only laughed at someone else's expense. And sure, he was laughing at me here, but that was a genuine laugh at something he found funny, not _"haha let's all make fun of Kyogre cuz she's stupid"_.

He was rapidly destroying every notion I ever had about him. Damn him.

I shifted uncomfortably. "So, how much longer do I have to stay here? I have children to find, remember?"

Groudon frowned. "I remember, Kyogre. You've been bothering me about it every day since you woke up."

Well, excuuuuuuse me for caring about kidnapped children, Mr. I-Don't-Care-About-Anyone-Besides-Myself!

"And judging by how your wound is healing...well, as soon as you can walk properly again, you can go."

That jackass! "You do realize that I could hardly walk even _before_ I got speared, right?"

He held back a grin. "Hm, right. Forgot about that. Alright then...soon as you can move around without tearing that wound open again. That's a few more days at the most. Surely you can put up with me until then?"

Yeah, that's what _you_ think.

But in the end, I really had no choice. I sighed. "Fine. But I want to take a bath. I feel gross."

"You took a bath two days ago," Groudon replied, frowning at me. "And I had to change your bandage again afterwards."

"So wrap me in a trash bag or something, jeez. Two days is a long bloody time, and I demand that you leave so I can wash myself off!"

To my surprise, he didn't argue. Instead, he just grunted and gestured to Manaphy, who eagerly followed him. "C'mon, squirt, Mom wants some alone time."

"Da!"

"I know, seriously. Yell if you need anything," he called back to me, and they were gone.

I sighed again and crawled over to the pool of water. Oh, sea water, where would I be without you? Probably dead, come to think of it. Hm. Oh well.

I stripped out of the jacket and lowered myself into the water. The blessedly cool, wet, salty water. How the hell did humans manage to live on the mainland and never go in the ocean? It was unthinkable. The ocean is necessary for _life_.

No, I didn't hate the humans. I didn't even really dislike them. Much, anyway. Rather, I suppose you could say that I was wary of them. And could you blame me? The last time I really dealt with them, I was almost forced to reset the world again. It was only Rayquaza's intervention that kept that from happening, with his weird ability to somehow override the Red and Blue Orbs' power.

Arceus, if anyone ever got a hold of all three Orbs at once, we'd be so screwed.

Some humans were nice. That black-haired kid with the Pikachu, for instance, was alright, according to many of my fellow Legends. Latias really liked him, too. And there were others who practically worshiped the water I swam in. Unfortunately, Team Aqua had comprised of a lot of Kyogre-worshipers, and while I appreciated the love, I did _not_ appreciate their desire to take control of me and force me to attempt to reset the world against my will.

Archie and Maxie both got theirs, anyway. It's impossible for a human to possess any of the three Orbs without going insane from all the power they give off, and that's what happened to them. Literally driven insane by the Red and Blue Orbs.

It would have been a much slower process, had it not been for Rayquaza. When he broke their power over us, that power had to go _somewhere_, and it went straight back into the two Orbs...and their current holders. And that power is something that no human can truly grasp.

Anyway, thanks to Rayquaza, those two idiots will spend the rest of their days locked up and babbling incoherently, unable to harm anyone ever again.

It was a rather poetic justice, if I do say so myself. At the time, I hadn't really cared if Groudon survived or not, but they had hurt a lot of people and Pokémon, and the torrents of water that Archie had had me create only made the damage worse. Innocent creatures had been killed, and not just by me, either. Groudon had caused quakes and landslides, which had taken a fair amount of lives as well.

In fact, our shared hatred of the Orbs and anyone who wished to possess them was probably the first thing we ever agreed about.

We'd both gotten one hell of an earful from Arceus about all the mess, too, which was completely unfair. And how, pray tell, was it _our_ fault that the Orbs were taken? If anything, it's _her_ fault for creating the damn things in the first place! At least Rayquaza had been there, and he was able to testify that it wasn't just our rivalry acting up again - we'd really been under the control of those two stupid humans.

I sighed and splashed my face with the water. Stupid humans, indeed. They had no idea of the power they were trying to wield.

The salt in the water was stinging my half-healed injury, and so, despite the fact that I wanted to savor being in the ocean again, I decided to hurry and finish my bath as quickly as possible. Plus, there was the fact that Groudon had been going on about some stupid Tentacruel that had taken to the tunnel leading from the pool of water I was in to the outside ocean, and I _really_ didn't feel like getting dragged down under the water as a helpless human if this story was true.

A few years ago, a group of Tentacruels had taken it into their heads that it would be fun to scare humans by dragging swimmers down under the water, holding them there for a bit, and then letting them go when they were properly frightened. I had intervened when one joke went too far and resulted in the death of a young human boy, and the pranks had been virtually nonexistent since then, but there _were_ still the odd few who continued with it. Nasty little buggers, Tentacruels. Not too good for eating, either, unless you could somehow avoid all their poison stingers.

So, as soon as I felt clean again, I lifted myself out of the water with some difficulty, crawled back to my nest of shredded white sheets, and began to dry myself off with one strip. Then, I picked Groudon's jacket back up, grimaced at it, and put it down. Before putting it back on, I needed new bandages, since the ones I was currently wearing were now wet and thus useless.

"Groudon!" I shouted.

Thundering footsteps echoed through the cave as he came ambling back in with Manaphy resting on his head. "What?" He looked at me, clutching his jacket to myself to preserve at least _some_ of my dignity, and said, "Oh. Right," and walked to the niche in the wall where he'd stored Manaphy's seaweed, pulling out a roll of white bandages.

The next instant, I was looking at a dark-skinned young man with dark red hair and yellow eyes. His chest was bare, but I was grateful to see that he was at least wearing a pair of black pants. Though just _how_ was a mystery - I wasn't even aware that we _could_ transform with clothes already on. I'd have to ask him about it later.

And then came the awkward part, where he had to strip off my current bandages and put on the new ones. I closed my eyes and kept my mouth shut, grateful that he didn't make a big deal out of it either, but I couldn't keep a small shiver from wracking my body each time his hands came into contact with my skin. Which was a lot.

His hands were warm, which didn't surprise me, and they were very rough and calloused. Definitely not as lethal as his claws in his normal form, which was a relief, though I surprised myself by thinking that the claws were part of what made him, well, Groudon. We really were an odd contrast - flippers versus claws, water vs. earth, the flexibility of water vs. the unyielding-ness of ground...

"It's healing up pretty good," he said, startling me into opening my eyes and looking at him.

That was a mistake. He was entirely too close to me, and I was currently leaning against the rocky cave wall, which meant I couldn't back away. He leaned over me, one hand braced against the wall by my head, and the other on my lower back, slipping the loose end of the bandage into place and securing it. I froze, not willing to move and feeling the dreaded heat coming back to my cheeks...and to other places too, to my complete horror and embarrassment.

Just what was going on? Why wasn't he moving away? Why wasn't _I_ moving away? Why was he staring at me like that?

"Y-yeah," I breathed, in answer to his statement. "I'll be outta here in n-no time."

I could have kicked myself for stuttering, but Groudon smiled a little, and the sight of it nearly took my breath away. What was happening? What was going on? Why was I reacting like this?

I was only half-aware that I was beginning to lean forward, and that his hand on my back was helping me with that, but suddenly his eyes - yellow _eyes_ with some strange intense _look_ in them - were right in front of mine and his breath was warm on my lips. I felt my own eyes drifting closed again-

"Mama! Da!"

Something soft, blue, and squishy shoved itself between us, yelling at the top of its lungs. Groudon jerked backwards, falling onto his ass from surprise, and I very suddenly became aware of the fact that I currently had nothing on. A muffled shriek made its way out of me before I grabbed the dark red jacket, nearly dislodging Manaphy, and shoved it on, zipping it and doing up the clasps as quickly as I could.

"Y-you didn't see anything!" I snapped at Groudon, who by now had picked himself up off the floor and was looking at me oddly.

He raised a brow at me. "I didn't?"

"No! Nothing!"

He snorted and looked away, which for some reason infuriated me further. What, was I not _good_ enough for him?

Immediately, I chased that thought away. I didn't _need_ to be good enough for him; I was Kyogre, ruler of the ocean, and whatever it was that had just taken place was very obviously some kind of freak accident.

There was no way in hell I had willingly leaned towards Groudon and was going to allow...whatever _that_ was to happen. No. No way. Such things just did not compute. Darkrai and Cresselia would throw away their differences and get together before that happened.

The scale of Not Happening was epic. Giratina and Shaymin would become best friends, Latias would destroy the world, Deoxys would score lower than 190 on an IQ test, Rayquaza would start cracking jokes, Articuno would become hyperactive, Darkrai and Cresselia would get together - all of that before anything happened between Groudon and I.

And the damn heat still refused to go out of my face! And by the way Groudon shot a look at me just then and _smirked_, I knew that he knew this.

This was all _his_ fault. He was making me act weird and unlike myself.

Arceus, I couldn't _wait_ until I was fully healed and back to normal. Maybe once I was back in the ocean where I _belonged_, I wouldn't be feeling like this, or dealing with such weird emotions. No, I'd go and find the kidnapped children, bring them home, Sheer Cold the kidnappers to hell, and go back to my life of raising Manaphy and avoiding Groudon like the plague.

Perfect. I just had to survive the next few days until my wound fully healed.

* * *

**AN: So first a couple notes about things. The Pok****é****dex gives Kyogre's weight at 776.0 pounds, which I think is pretty fair for a being of her size – she's a few inches short of being fifteen feet long, and is one of the larger Legendaries, so of course she's going to be fairly heavy. Not that Groudon really has any room to talk – he's apparently a good 2,094.4 pounds XD**

**As for the steamy-ish scene in Kyogre's dream, that's about as sexual as this story is going to get. I hope no one minds. But one of my favorite things about Orbshipping is that I see it as being almost entirely based around being drawn to each other's personalities and discovering that they mesh better than either might have previously thought. I of course don't **_**mind**_** there being a physical aspect to things, but the emotional aspect is just so much more appealing to me.**

**The stuff about Archie and Maxie being driven insane by Rayquaza breaking the Orbs' hold over Groudon and Kyogre was made up by me. I dunno, I always found it kinda weird that they just got off the hook with no problems at all in Emerald Version by running away (I don't remember what happens to them in the anime), so I took matters into my own hands. And besides, anything that can control something as powerful as a Legendary ****Pokémon** is probably going to come with a few warning labels, if for nothing than to discourage other people with delusions of grandeur from trying it out for themselves.  


**At least one of the Gen V Legendaries are appearing in the next chapter, and I'm having a ball writing him. I'll let you guess which one it is. As for the Gen VI Legendaries...they will not be making an appearance in here, partially because only two of them have been unveiled so far, and partially because I really don't know how I'd fit them in without it seeming completely awkward. So Xerneas and Yveltal will have to sit this one out. Sorry, guys.**

**Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all next week!**


	11. In which Reshiram makes an appearance

**Last update of June! And next week there won't be one, but the one on the fourteenth will probably be a bit longer than normal. These chapters that I've been uploading lately are all roughly fifteen to seventeen pages long, so I'm hoping to get the next one to at least twenty or so. I'll see what I can do (and indeed what I have time for).**

**Disclaimer: All I can really claim ownership of is each Pokémon's personality, and even then only slightly. **_**Pokémon**_** itself belongs to Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri. Anything you don't recognize as canon most likely belongs to me, however.**

**Going Off The Deep End  
By: Saya Moonshadow**

"What are _you_ doing here?"

The low, hostile timbre of the voice woke me up, and I instinctively began preparing to do battle with it - how many times had I heard those words in the past, or said them myself? Too many. Way too many. By now they were practically a challenge in and of themselves.

The sharp pain in my healing side forced me back down as I twisted, trying to find the source of that voice and still only half-awake. I clutched my side and hissed, curling up in my nest of torn sheets, while beside me Manaphy slept on, somehow not bothered by the noise. Usually he was a rather light sleeper, but I realized just then that the voice was much quieter than it usually was when those words were spoken.

I blinked blearily, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and finally taking a good look around me as my brain began to switch on a little more.

It felt quite early in the morning - I was an early riser myself, and the land entrance to Groudon's cave was quiet, with almost no noise coming from the tunnel system beyond. So everyone was still asleep? What the hell was Groudon doing awake, then? And who was he talking to? Don't tell me he talked in his sleep now...

"Answer me." His voice came again, and I focused in front of me where it was coming from. He was standing a few feet in front of where Manaphy and I were sleeping, his back to me. My hair fluttered as his tail swished once in agitation, creating a small breeze. Whoever he was talking to was blocked from my line of vision by his massive body - ha! Who was the fat one _now_, Groudon?!

"What, am I not allowed to come and see a friend when she has been injured?"

I froze. I hadn't heard this new voice in quite a long time.

"No," Groudon growled out, and I started at how angry he sounded. Usually that kind of anger was only directed towards me when we were in the middle of one of our scuffles. Only very rarely was it directed towards someone else, and when it was, that someone normally took many precautions to make sure it never happened again. "She's still injured, and I won't have you or anyone else jeopardizing her recovery. Now leave."

"Jeopardizing her recovery, you say? Hah! What harm will a small conversation do her? She can't be getting much of that around here, what with you two having your little 'rivalry' and all; I doubt you can speak to her without insulting her in some way-"

"_Leave._" The word was practically snarled out, and I decided to intervene before something happened. I could see waves of heat beginning to radiate from Groudon's body, and though fire wouldn't do this one much harm, he had a great many other attacks that would.

"Reshiram?" I asked, getting cautiously to my feet and wincing when my side protested. My legs felt unsteady and I was in danger of toppling over, but I quickly put a hand against the section of wall nearest to me. OK, that was much better... "Is that you?"

A large white, furry head poked out from around Groudon, and I saw that it was indeed him. He grinned at me, giving me a small wave. "Ah, there you are, my dear one. It truly does my heart well to see you still in one piece."

I didn't quite know how to respond to his words - I never did. Reshiram often skirted the line between friendly and uncomfortable, and I was never exactly sure of just what he was after. I got along better with him than I did with most other Fire-types, but it was often difficult to tell what he was thinking. Which, I surmised, was probably his intention in the first place.

"Um...thank you," I said in response. "But what are you doing here? Is anyone else going to come?"

In other words, how many times was the Cave of Origin going to be invaded over the next few days? I wasn't so sure I'd appreciate the company, and I knew for a fact that Groudon wouldn't either. The only reason I knew the location of his home was because Rayquaza and Arceus had both insisted, and for some reason I had never forgotten it. Seeing as how it had saved my life, though, I couldn't exactly complain.

Reshiram rolled his eyes dramatically. "Not too many others, I would assume - Zekrom told me to tell you to get well soon, and Kyurem said nothing at all, so I assume they will not be coming. As for the rest, they haven't come yet, have they? As for what I am doing here, well, I couldn't just allow a dear friend to suffer alone, could I? No, indeed not, you could certainly use a little more company than this one here. That is the truth of the matter."

"This one here," Groudon snapped before I could say anything, "also happens to be the one who saved her life. Now, get out."

"Oh, but I couldn't possibly, not while Kyogre remains so desperately in need of real conversation! I have missed speaking with you, after all, Kyogre, we have had some of the most interesting conversations in the past and it has been so long since we last saw each other."

Groudon's eyes flashed angrily, and his claws were flexing. All in all, signs that danger was approaching very quickly and needed to be headed off.

"Yes, well, you and the others from Unova are not often included in our meetings," I said uncomfortably. I had no idea why this was, but upon being asked, Arceus had said something about it being entirely too far away for it to be convenient, so she usually made the trek to Unova by herself to check things out. I guess she figured she was dealing with enough of us already as it was; anymore and her head might explode. Anyway, they come to meetings when summoned to do so; otherwise, they stay home and wait for Arceus to make her rounds. If only we could convince her to do the same with us; it would sure save everyone a lot of annoyance in the long run...

"Wait a minute, how did you even find out I was hurt?" I asked as the thought occurred to me. After all, he lived several hundred miles away from Sinnoh, which was a long distance away from Hoenn. There was no way news traveled _that_ fast.

"Your ringleader friend, of course," he replied. Both Groudon and I winced at this. Rayquaza did indeed technically rule over us, what with his ability to override the power of the Red and Blue Orbs, his typing, and the fact that he was our peacemaker of a sort - a rather violent, moody peacemaker, at that - but we both disliked being reminded of it. As did Rayquaza, who had put up with years of "cleaning up after the kids" jokes, among other things. "He came charging over while Arceus was making her rounds of my domain, and without so much as a 'hello', began speaking of how you had been gravely wounded and poisoned by humans and were recuperating under _his_," he motioned carelessly to Groudon with one wing, "less-than-graceful care. Well, of course I had to go and see you for myself, but was unable to leave until Arceus herself was finished with her business and had gone. Two days of flying later, and I arrived in Hoenn, and I only just now discovered the location of this...lovely place. A little drab, don't you think? I know you must be dreadfully bored, being cooped up in here all the time, are you not?"

Well, sort of, but I wasn't about to say that in front of Groudon. Not with the way he was looking at me right now.

"It's not _that_ bad," I said, shifting uncomfortably under both their gazes. Groudon's eyes were always intense, so I was more or less used to it, but I was less used to dealing with Reshiram. "If I find myself getting bored, I think of things to do. Or take naps. Same as I do normally."

"Hmm," he said contemplatively, though I knew he didn't believe me. Not entirely, anyway, and there was nothing more important to Reshiram than the truth, though lucky for me it looked like he wasn't going to press the issue. "I'll get it out of you eventually. For now...oh my, what is _that?_"

"What?" I asked, looking down to where the claws on his left wing were pointing.

_That_ turned out to be Manaphy, who was finally waking up at all the commotion. He yawned hugely, rubbing at his eyes with one paw while scratching his belly with the other, and turned over onto his back. His eyes opened, landing on me, and he gave me a sleepy smile. "Mama, morning!"

I couldn't help but smile back. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

He nodded, unable to respond because he was yawning again.

"Oh my," Reshiram said, making me freeze. "Well, Rayquaza certainly did not mention anything about _this_. You are a mother now, Kyogre? I confess, I have never seen such a thing before in my life. What is it? I must know!"

Groudon stepped back in front of me and Manaphy, blocking us from Reshiram's sight. "That's none of your business," he growled. "And you are disturbing them both. For the last time, get. Out. Of. My. Cave."

The pitch of his voice was very low, rumbling like an earthquake and sounding twice as menacing. I'd heard this only a few times in my life, and each occasion had ended in severe pain for both of us. Reshiram huffed, but for the first time he looked slightly uncertain - he had the type disadvantage between the two, and should Groudon choose to attack him, he was completely out of his element. The Cave of Origin wasn't big enough to fly in, and he'd have nowhere to go in order to avoid any attacks.

Not that Groudon would have done anything too drastic, not with Manaphy and me both in here and unable to dodge either. Or so I hoped.

"Well, I can tell where I'm not wanted - by one party, anyway, of course. I will catch up with you later, Kyogre. When you are finally free of this lizard's claws, feel free to send me a whistle. Zekrom is covering for me at home, so I have at least three days before I must return to her. I shall be waiting in the volcano in this region for your summons, should they come. Goodbye, my dear one."

I returned the goodbye, cursing myself when I stammered. Manaphy stared curiously at Reshiram as he ambled out through the land entrance to the cave, lighting up the tunnels with his tail turbine.

"Who dat?" he asked, pointing after the white dragon.

"That was Reshiram, another one of us Legendaries," I replied. "He's from a place called Unova, which is very far away, so we won't see too much of him. Do you understand?"

He nodded enthusiastically, making me smile. A sudden snort from above had me looking up, though, at the still-angry face of my counterpart, and I suddenly felt uncomfortable all over again. I wanted to say something, but I had no idea what I _could_ say, nor why I felt like I had to say anything at all. I wanted to...to reassure him somehow, but I wasn't sure of what.

"Why are you so angry?" I asked carefully, making him look at me. His eyes were hard, as they usually were when we looked at each other. I was surprised to realize that I missed his smile. He hadn't really glared at me in a while now, and it was odd to have it happen again.

"I don't like him," Groudon growled, turning back to look at where Reshiram had vanished. "Pompous ass."

I couldn't hold back a snort of laughter at this. Yes, Reshiram had a certain way of coming across, and if he didn't like you, he made no short deal of letting you know. My guess was that Groudon was one of these.

"It's the way he acts, like the world exists solely to bring him amusement, and it just barely measures up to his expectations," Groudon said, still glaring at the entrance to the tunnels. "And unless he likes you, he acts like you're beneath him. I don't know how Zekrom's put up with him as long as she has. Kyurem, too. If he dares to come back here again, I'll bury him with Fissure on sight."

I frowned. That was a little harsh for someone who had only been checking up on someone else - or so Reshiram had claimed. I was never quite sure of what he was actually thinking, but it had certainly seemed like he was just checking in, and he'd expressed interest in meeting Manaphy. Anyway, this kind of thing usually didn't bother Groudon that much. I knew Rayquaza visited him on a semi-regular basis, as he did with me, and that Regirock constantly accidentally wandered in here as well, and I'd never gotten the feeling that Groudon was all that bothered by their arrivals. Rather, I had always been under the impression that he appreciated the company.

"He's not so bad," I said, sitting back down before my legs gave out on me. He whipped around to look at me, his expression incredulous. "He and I have had some nice conversations in the past, and he's got some amazing stories."

I almost regretted saying this at the look in his eyes at my statement - for a split second, I could have sworn I saw pain. But that was completely ridiculous, right?

"So you are close, then?" he asked. The look was gone now, replaced by incredulity again. "I've seen you talking to him before - you are the only one besides Zekrom and Kyurem that he doesn't treat like trash."

I hummed a bit in thought. "No, I wouldn't say we're necessarily close. We talk a bit whenever they come to meetings, but other than that, I don't really see him that often. He's usually the one to start the conversation up." I smirked at him teasingly. "Why? Does it bother you or something?"

"It's always bothered me," he muttered, turning away so that his back was facing me. "You just never noticed before."

My mouth dropped open at this, but I had no idea of how to respond. He was bothered by the fact that Reshiram and I talked? What in Arceus' name for? I felt my face heating up a bit, and slapped my palms over my cheeks to cool them down.

Fortunately, I was spared saying anything by Manaphy, who had made his way over to the far wall and was attempting to climb it in order to get at the little niche where his seaweed was stored when he wasn't eating it. He never got too far up before he lost his grip on the relatively smooth rock of the wall and came tumbling back down again, but I'd long ago learned that he was nothing if not stubborn, and he kept trying. Snorting with amusement, Groudon took pity on him and took the bag containing the seaweed out of the niche, very carefully handing some of it off to Manaphy and sitting down to watch him eat.

"Slow down, squirt," he said after about half of it was gone. "You're gonna get sick again if you keep eating that fast."

"Da!" Manaphy responded through a mouthful of his food, waving at Groudon cheerfully. He did not, however, slow down whatsoever. Not that I expected him to. Truth be told, it really was a marvel that he hadn't made himself sick yet from how fast he inhaled his food. Was he even tasting any of the stuff? Really.

I watched them, only half-aware of the fact that I was smiling. The heat in my cheeks was going down, but I kept my hands pressed there for lack of something to do with them. This scene between the two of them was strangely...pleasing. Up until those days ago when I'd first arrived, I never would have imagined that Groudon could be so good with children. Especially not one that had anything to do with me. But as odd as the thought might have been to me, I couldn't deny that I liked it.

Groudon continued to talk to Manaphy as he ate his breakfast, even though it was rather early in the morning - perhaps around five or so, by my rough estimate. I doubted I'd be able to go back to sleep, at any rate, so I set about rubbing my eyes to get the sleep grains out of them and combing my fingers through my hair. At some point I'd have to see about cutting it, though I wasn't sure if this would do much in the long run or if the next time I changed, it would be long again. It got tangled way too easily, and there was the extra annoyance of it constantly getting caught under me or on random objects lying around the cave. A few times I'd woken up from a nap to find Manaphy chewing on a few strands of it. Not an experience I want to repeat.

Amazingly, Manaphy didn't finish his seaweed. Perhaps remembering the previous overeating incident, he picked up what little was left of his meal and held it out to Groudon with a hopeful expression. Ah...not remembering the previous incident, but hoping to share. I'd eaten his food whenever he offered some to me, after all, so I guess he thought everyone would do the same. However, Groudon didn't seem to understand this.

He gaped at my baby with such an incredulous expression that I had to bite down on my own knuckles to keep from bursting out laughing. "You're done?" he asked, staring at the food being held out to him. "Seriously?"

Manaphy puffed out his cheeks and shook his head, his forehead creasing in annoyance. "Da!" he insisted, holding it out further.

Groudon's expression didn't waver. If anything, it just got even more confused than before. "You...want me to have some?" he asked slowly.

I held in a snort. Was it _really_ so hard to believe?

Manaphy's expression cleared in an instant, and he positively _beamed_ at my counterpart. Contact has been successfully made, captain! But I'd only seen that smile directed at me, never anyone else. I mean, sure, he smiled at virtually everybody, but that was the _special_ smile, the I-am-so-happy-to-see-you smile. The one he'd given me right after...

Right after Rayquaza made me go visit Groudon once he came back from being Giratina's errand boy. And so similar to the one Groudon himself had given me that day before realizing that he wasn't dreaming.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I nearly missed the expression that crossed Groudon's face as he gazed down upon my baby - a ten foot height difference, there. He looked torn about something, but I didn't understand what was wrong until he glanced down at his paws, and - oh.

_Oh._

_Yes, that might be a problem._

His paws - or, more accurately, his claws. I often joked about them being sharper than they need to be, but there was a rather grim truth to those jokes. Groudon almost never touched others if he could help it. In fact, I was one of the few he didn't seem to mind touching when he was in his regular form, although to be fair, usually those touches were meant to harm. And right now, I found myself wondering if he ever sometimes wished he didn't have those claws. Come to think of it, he was a lot more touchy-feely (or as touchy-feely as it was possible for him to be) in his human form, where he had nothing more dangerous than a set of average fingernails.

I remember once, a very long time ago, he had attempted to pat Latias on the head and wound up accidentally giving her a long scratch on the neck. Rayquaza had had to dive in front of him to keep Latios from trying to kill him for it, and Latias had laughed it off as an accident once she was over the initial shock, but Groudon hadn't taken it so lightly. He'd been furious with himself, and from then on, I'd rarely seen him go within ten feet of her if he could help it. Oh, he'd still talk to her, but never within reach where he could accidentally hurt her again.

And now he was in a situation where he'd have to accept something from my baby. Well.

Come to think of it, I couldn't remember him touching Manaphy for very long in his true form, either, if at all. Manaphy loved to climb all over him, but Groudon kept his claws firmly at his sides whenever this happened, not moving until Manaphy got bored and went to find something else to play with.

I felt a sudden upsurge of sympathy for him that surprised me. Honestly, I couldn't even imagine being in that same position. Unable to touch others without potentially seriously hurting them? It was almost unfair.

"OK then," Groudon said slowly, reaching for the seaweed being held out to him. He turned his paw upside-down, so Manaphy could place it right in his palm, and I swear I saw relief on his face when Manaphy did just that and didn't force him to actually grab it. He waited until Manaphy had safely retracted his own paw before bringing the stuff up to his face and eating it. Despite feeling sorry for him, I couldn't help but giggle a little at the disgusted expression on his face as he chewed - seaweed had never been anywhere near his list of favorite foods (which was actually fairly large), and it never would be.

He swallowed heavily and directed a strained smile at Manaphy, who was looking at him expectantly. "It was...good. Ish. Thank you, Manaphy."

"Da!" Manaphy shouted, waving his arms in the air. Mission accomplished; Groudon ate the food!

I smiled a little, my laughter under control. No one had gotten hurt, except maybe Groudon's taste buds, but that hardly counted.

As Manaphy made his way back over to me, Groudon commenced with picking up the rest of the seaweed, grumbling when he accidentally tore the bag again. "We're running low on this stuff, so I'm gonna have to go get some more," he said over his shoulder to me. "How's your side feeling? I saw you hurting a bit earlier."

"It's fine now," I replied, placing a hand over it and pressing in slightly. To my happy surprise, it only hurt a little bit. Compared to how just a few days ago it would have hurt a lot more, this was some marked improvement. Being a Legendary Pokémon had its benefits sometimes. Or most times. Mhm. "I just twisted myself a bit awkwardly earlier; it doesn't hurt anymore."

"OK then." A flash of light, and he was human. And still without a shirt, though he'd once again managed to transform with a pair of pants and boots on. At some point I'd have to remember to ask just how in the hell he did that, but for now I pointedly kept my eyes on his face. Wait a minute, did he go out like this every day? I hadn't really paid attention before, but now that I thought about it, I couldn't remember him putting on a shirt before exiting the Cave of Origin each time he'd gone out to run whatever errands he was running. I wasn't entirely up to speed on human customs, but I knew that while upper body nudity wasn't anywhere near as frowned upon in human males as it was in females, it was generally considered polite to at least wear a shirt.

"You should at least put on a shirt or something..." I trailed off when he looked at me with a bemused smile. I hated to admit it, but I found his human form to be aesthetically pleasing - it was tall and well-built, and I suppose his face could be considered attractive as well, the bright yellow eyes that carried over from his true form creating an interesting contrast with the dark tan of his skin and red of his hair...

I shook my head to clear these thoughts. And just where the hell had _that_ come from? Well, there was no problem in admitting I found someone attractive, right? Not much, anyway.

"I don't have any shirts," he told me, and I blanched. "When I need to go out among the humans, I usually just wear that jacket. I could still do that, I guess, if you wanted to give it-"

"NO!" I shouted, feeling the damn heat coming back to my face, and glaring when he laughed at me. Arceus, I couldn't wait until I was back in my own true form and didn't have to worry about this kind of stuff! "Just go already!"

He laughed harder, and turned on his heel to leave. "Yeah, OK. Want me to bring you anything back?"

Was that trepidation I heard in his voice there? Was he still thinking of what Reshiram had said, about me being bored in here? If so, why? It wasn't his fault that I was stuck in here, nor was it really his problem if I got bored.

Either way, I supposed, this wasn't an opportunity I should pass up. Even if I only had a few more days in here at the most, it would be nice to have some way to pass the time from here on out.

"Um, sure. Surprise me."

He nodded, then bent to extract his bootlaces from Manaphy's mouth. They were covered in drool, I saw with amusement, stifling a laugh at how my baby fought to get them back.

"Da!" Manaphy protested, and Groudon rolled his eyes.

"You'll choke on those, squirt, so cut it out. I'll bring you a chew toy when I come back, OK? So just sit tight and wait a bit."

After another minute of bargaining, Manaphy finally gave in and sulked his way back over to our nest of torn sheets as Groudon took the opportunity to escape. I gathered my baby up in my arms, placing my chin on the top of his head and he buried his face in my neck and babbled, doubtlessly complaining about the unfairness of having his new toy stolen from him.

Once again, I caught a rather frequent use of the word "da!", and remembered my earlier puzzling over it. Really, what _did_ that word mean? Baby talk aside, he used that word often enough that I should know by now. Not being able to figure it out was beginning to piss me off.

"Manaphy," I said, and he brought his head up to look at me, pout still in place. "Da?"

He twisted in my arms to look frantically around the cave, and I felt my confusion increase again when he turned back to me frowning harder than ever. OK, so what the hell was this "da!" supposed to be? Apparently it wasn't in the cave right now, and...

"Da gone!" Manaphy announced, pointing at the cave exit.

"'Da!' is gone?" I asked. But that was where Groudon had just gone not fifteen minutes ago...did that mean _Groudon_ was "da!", then? But even if that was the case, that was nowhere near to being how his name should be pronounced (though it would certainly explain why neither of us had heard Manaphy attempt to say his name before). Manaphy had managed to get Rayquaza's and Latias' names down as well as a baby could be expected to, and obviously I was just "Mama", but-

I felt my heart stop for a moment.

_Oh Arceus._

He didn't mean what I thought he meant, did he?

_Arceus._

_NO._

"Manaphy," I said, swallowing hard. "Where did 'da!' go? Why is it gone?"

It should be a crime to be able to switch from pouty to excited this fast. "TOY!" he shouted, bouncing up and down in my lap. "Get toy! Da get me toy!"

My brain officially ground to a halt. I barely felt Manaphy's paw tapping my cheek, trying to get me to respond to him. My eyes were open wide, I knew, and my heart was beating almost painfully quickly, but neither of these facts quite registered in my brain.

"Da!", as in "dad!".

Well, it sort of made sense, I found myself thinking almost giddily, fighting the urge to laugh or scream or _something_. Groudon had been standing directly over me when Manaphy had hatched, and if the first thing he'd seen was me, it would stand to reason that the next thing he saw would be Groudon, right?

I attempted to rationalize this to myself, and frantically thought back on the first time I'd ever heard him use the word. To my dismay, it had been right after Rayquaza made me go see Groudon. After we'd left, Manaphy had shouted that, and asked me who Groudon was. I'd replied, not even thinking that the first word might have meant something. Not asking me who Groudon was, I now realized dizzily, but asking for _confirmation_. He'd remembered Groudon from his hatching day, but had been unsure. And me, being the clueless idiot I was, had managed to confirm his thoughts.

My back hit the cave wall behind me as I brought a hand up to my face, covering my mouth. Some mixture of a laugh and a yelp made its way out of me, and I realized that along with the shock and anger was amusement. I couldn't help but feel amused, both at my own cluelessness and at Manaphy's choice of father parental unit.

Truth be told, I was surprised he hadn't chosen Rayquaza. Before we came here upon my being injured, we'd seen Rayquaza several times as he came to check on me (or so he claimed, but in reality he was more likely making sure Manaphy was still alive and that I wasn't getting myself into trouble again). Rayquaza would also be easier for me to handle in this situation - I would carefully explain that while he was indeed a good(-ish) guy, he was in no way anything resembling a father to Manaphy and that I was all he'd ever need.

I could do the same now, but in regards to Groudon.

Yes, I thought, straightening up again, ignoring Manaphy's questioning looks, that's what I'd do. I opened my mouth to do just that-

Nothing came out.

I couldn't make myself do it.

Why the hell not?! It was so _easy_. All I had to do was tell Manaphy that Groudon was not his father, and have him practice calling him by his real name (or as close as he could manage), and we'd be good to go. He was young enough that he'd forget about this nonsense soon enough, and doubtless Groudon would be pleased to see that he was finally being referred to as something he understood-

A sudden touch in my mouth made me sputter, breaking off my train of thought momentarily. I'd left my mouth open while I was internally debating on how to go about this, and apparently Manaphy had taken this as an invitation to put his paw in there. I jerked my face away from his paw and gave him a stern look, which he just grinned at.

"Mama good?" he asked.

Arceus, I couldn't do it. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why, but I just couldn't and that was that. I didn't _want_ to tell him those things, and I also didn't _want_ think of why this was.

OK, I rationalized to myself a little frantically, maybe it could work out. If Groudon hadn't figured it out by now, then it wasn't likely he ever would unless he was actually told about it. Which wouldn't happen. I was the only one who knew, and I doubted it would occur to Manaphy to attempt to explain and who knew if Groudon would even understand what he was saying if that happened? No. I just wouldn't say a word about it. I'd keep my mouth shut, and life would go on. We'd be out of here in less than a week, anyway, and I'd make sure to stay well away from the Cave of Origin for a long time after that - long enough that this whole incident might be forgotten.

I could survive a few more days of this. I could. I'd probably go insane in the process, but I could do it. And I would tell no one about this little realization. Not even Latias, who liked to know everything possible about Manaphy. Speaking of which, I should probably go see her after I was out of here, she was probably worried sick about me...

Planning what I would do once I was able to leave was a much more comfortable topic of thought, and I gave it my almost undivided attention for the rest of the day. The rest of my attention went to keeping an eye on Manaphy as he gave up on figuring out what the matter was with me and went about entertaining himself until Groudon came back.

"Heads up!"

Instinctively, I brought my hands up, feeling something hard, flat, and long hitting them. I almost dropped the object, but managed to get a good purchase on it and righted it so I could take a good look at it.

A...book?

The title _Gulliver's Travels_ stared up at me as I examined the object, and I looked up at the one who'd thrown it at me.

Groudon grinned when he saw me looking at him. He was carrying a few bags in his right hand, the left having been the one he'd used to lob the book at me. "I dunno if you like reading, but I know you like listening to stories, and that's the best I could make of it. The human at the bookstore told me that's one of their most popular classics, so I figured it was a safe bet you'd probably like it."

I nodded, swallowing hard. I couldn't bring myself to speak, and was mortified because of this. Arceus, this was too soon. How could I say anything to him without alerting him to the fact that something was wrong?

OK, _breathe_. OK. Much better. My tongue untied itself, much to my relief, and I managed a half smile and a much more real round of thanks. I _did_ like stories, and while I was much more used to hearing them being either said or sung to me, reading them was a good substitute.

"And now for the shrimp...don't slobber on 'em all at once, OK?" He upended one of the other bags near a very excited Manaphy, who immediately pounced on the colorful toys that dropped out with a happy cry. Soft, rubbery chew toys, I saw, much like the ones I kept buried in the sand for him near my usual residence. I hoped no one had stolen them, they were on loan from Ho-Oh, and she was expecting them back when Manaphy outgrew them...

Groudon handed me a plastic container, and I braced myself for the usual meal of soup. But to my surprise, it wasn't soup. "Beef," he told me when I looked at him questioningly. "It's a popular dish for the humans, and I thought you'd probably be getting sick of soup at some point, so...yeah. Something different for a change."

Something different, indeed. If only he knew _how_ different, and I wasn't just talking about the food.

As usual, he didn't eat with me. He'd probably eaten while he was out, I supposed, and didn't bother him about it. And, after he'd pulled out a sizable amount of seaweed for Manaphy from the last bag, there was a flash as he assumed his true form again.

I saw relief in his face, and felt a wild urge to be my own true self again.

Just a few more days, I reminded myself. My wound was nearly healed, thanks to my Legendary powers boosting the healing process, and as soon as I was able, I would be back to my normal form. I couldn't wait, though I surprised myself by thinking fleetingly that I'd miss the Cave of Origin once I was out.

And there was still the matter of the kidnapped children...as soon as I was back in the water and swimming with my own fins again, I would have to step up the search for them

I just hoped I'd be able to find them - it had been over a month, after all, and who knew where they'd be at this point?

* * *

**AN: OK, so it took her long enough, right? I think. I hope there was enough buildup to this little realization for it to be believable. She's so close to another one too, but being Kyogre, is not **_**quite**_** ready for that one just yet. Eventually. Some of you have asked me in the past if Manaphy would ever consider Groudon as a parent, and, well, here's your answer! Haha.**

**Reshiram has appeared! I wasn't going to portray him like this initially – but halfway through, I decided it would be more fun this way, and changed it. My general idea on him is that while he likes to know the truth about everything and everyone around him and has little patience for idealism, he doesn't quite like for others to know much about him in return. Trust issues and whatnot, yeah. Either way, I had a lot of fun writing him. Expect more of him in the future.**

**And speaking of the future, the next chapter is the last one in this little segment featuring the Cave of Origin. It's gone on long enough and was good for development, but it's time to move back to other things.**

**Thank you all so much for reading and for your reviews, and I'll see you in two weeks! In the meantime, I hope you have a good 4****th**** of July (even if you don't celebrate the holiday, haha)!**


	12. In which Kyogre takes her leave

**Hey guys. Sorry for the long wait, I know it was annoying. I got thrown into a bunch of nonsense at work (long story short, my coworker is going on maternity leave for the second time since I started there, and I'm having to re-train to do all her duties on top of all my own) and a lot of other, very stressful IRL problems. Those things all put together didn't leave me with much time or energy for writing in the past month. As a result, I'm afraid this chapter isn't as long as I would have liked it to be, but I'm exhausted and frustrated and out of gas for the time being. So here it is!**

**Also, please be polite when you inquire about updates. I am indeed very sorry for making you guys wait again, but, well, real life (particularly where my job is concerned) kind of takes precedence over fanfiction.**

**Disclaimer: All I can really claim ownership of is each Pokémon's personality, and even then only slightly. **_**Pokémon**_** itself belongs to Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri. Anything you don't recognize as canon most likely belongs to me, however.**

**Going Off The Deep End  
By: Saya Moonshadow**

I woke up two days later with an energy I'd not felt in what seemed like ages. The ache in my wounded side had lessened considerably, and experimenting with stretching didn't make it hurt any more or less, much to my delight and relief. As soon as all the kinks were worked out of my back and shoulders, I decided to try standing again.

This also worked, and though I was still wobbly, I was pleased to see that at least I didn't need to cling to the wall for support any longer. Deciding to see what else I was capable of, I took a few steps forward out of my nest of sheets.

Perfect - or close to it, anyway. Again, I was still a little wobblier than I perhaps should have been, but there was no pain and I was in no danger of falling over. A very marked improvement over just a few weeks ago when Latias and I had our outing, if I do say so myself. Then again, I suppose being forced to stay in human form for over a week will do that to you. At some point you just get used to moving a certain way.

And best of all? This meant I'd finally be able to go back to the ocean.

The first thing I was going to do once I was out, I decided, standing in the middle of the cave with my eyes closed as I imagined it, was go to get food. _Real_ food - for me, anyway, no more of this human stuff. Which was good, I'll readily admit that, but I was so done with it. I wanted some _real_ food. No Sharpedo, though. I didn't think I'd be able to go near any of those for at least a while. The memory of what had happened the last time I tried was still far too strong, and I needed some more time to get over it.

OK, so for a while I'd stick with Magikarp or something. That should satisfy my meat cravings, while keeping me away from the thing that had been the image of the thing that nearly killed me. Yes.

Yes, that sounded good, I decided, and felt my stomach growl in response. I laughed and poked at it. Just thinking about it was making me hungry...

A noise behind me made me look to find it, and as I'd expected, the source was Manaphy. The noise I'd been making must have woken him up, and he pulled himself into a sitting position, yawning hugely and rubbing at his eyes with both paws.

I waited patiently until he finally noticed that I wasn't in the nest of sheets with him, and couldn't help the twinge I felt when I saw genuine panic on his face as he looked for me, shifting the sheets around in his search.

"Ahem," I cleared my throat loudly, and the relief on his face when he finally saw me was somewhat staggering.

Arceus, this whole ordeal had probably affected him more than it had affected me. He'd always been rather clingy when it came to me (as poor Rayquaza had found out much to his annoyance), but this was something else. He'd woken up to find me not there a few times before, so why was he...

His tiny body collided with my shin, and I stumbled a bit, windmilling my arms to keep from falling. OK, so perhaps my balance wasn't as good as I had thought.

Manaphy nuzzled his face into my skin, his arms wrapped around my leg and his bottom resting on my foot. I bent and scratched at the base of his antennae, which I knew he enjoyed. This seemed to calm him down a bit, to my relief.

"Hey, what's the matter?" I asked. "I'm right here."

He shook his head, leaning his face into my skin more so I couldn't see it. I tapped on the back of his head, but he just shook his head, gripping my leg tighter.

"Maaaanaphy," I sang cajolingly. If this didn't work, then—

"You gone," he replied. "Go wifout me."

Oh.

He really thought I might have left without him? When had I ever given the impression that I would do that?

Still, he was just a kid. Not even a kid, but a baby. And as much as I would had liked to pretend that I was invincible, recent events had shown me all too clearly that I was not. At some point, he could very well find himself completely without me.

A feeling of unease came over me then, as I stood with him still clinging to my leg.

He would indeed have to leave me at some point.

I couldn't keep him forever; eventually, all children grow up and leave to forge their own path. Hell, I had done it myself, several millennia earlier. As soon as I was able to take care of myself, Arceus had sent me and Groudon and Rayquaza out to complete our duties for her, and we'd been on our own ever since. Someday, I'd have to do the same with Manaphy.

And I still had no idea where he was even originally _from_ - I could give him no true advice on where to go or how to get there, and I had no idea where he might choose to go once he was gone.

And anyway...my job here was only to raise him until he was grown. As soon as that happened, I'd be free to do my own thing again, but this time _without_ a hyperactive blue speck following me around everywhere.

I didn't even know how long I had until that happened. He sure seemed to be progressing at a remarkable rate; only a few months had passed since I'd first gotten custody of him, and he was already speaking! In baby talk, of course, but still coherent enough that he wasn't impossible to understand.

How long had I taken to grow up? I couldn't remember. It had all been too long ago.

Wordlessly, I reached down and gathered him up in my arms. He encircled my neck with his own arms, burying his face into my shoulder as I held him. "I'm not going to leave you," I said. "If I do, then it won't be because I want to. But someday you're going to have to leave me, you know? When you grow up, you won't want to stay with me your whole life."

"Wanna stay," he mumbled, and I couldn't help but laugh a little.

I doubted he'd want to stay for long once he was grown, but alright, I'd allow him to believe it for now. If it was more comfortable for him to believe, then it was OK with me.

"It's odd to remember how much you protested taking him when he first hatched," said a deep voice behind me.

I froze a little bit before I turned to face the owner of that voice.

"Now you're saying you don't want to leave him," Groudon continued, staring right at me from his position sitting on the ground. "Quite the turnaround, if you ask me."

"Well, I didn't," I said, sticking my nose in the air.

He smiled, but didn't laugh as I had expected him to, his tail swishing softly behind him. It had been difficult to even look at him the past couple of days after my..._revelation_ about what role Manaphy thought he played in our lives. Every time I did, I'd feel...a strange sort of something in my chest. It was something I couldn't pretend to have not felt before, but at least then it had had the decency to not be so common.

Now, it happened every time without fail.

I swallowed as I felt it happening again and resisted the urge to drop my gaze. Talking had been even harder. I just didn't know what to _say_ to him after that. If had seemed so easy before, but now I was having trouble speaking to him for longer than a few minutes before the feeling would become too much to bear and I'd have to turn away.

He cleared his throat and looked past me at the pool of water behind me. "I take it you're...better now?" he asked quietly.

I nodded, happy to have something else to move the conversation on to. So he'd noticed as well, had he? If it was that noticeable, then it must have been a big change in my overall posture. I remembered some days prior when just standing was painful for me. Now I could stand and walk without any pain.

There was a flash of light, and the human form of my counterpart was in front of me.

"OK, then," he said, reaching for me. "Let me check your side."

Obligingly, I sat down and placed Manaphy on the floor next to me. Groudon knelt in front of me, and then waited until I had unclasped his jacket and pushed it open. More than pushed it open, actually - removed it entirely. I wouldn't need it anymore after this, and I was too thrilled at the prospect of becoming the _real_ me again to care what he saw.

He carefully unwrapped my bandages, almost agonizingly slow. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him to hurry up, but the look in his eyes stopped me. His face was strangely blank, which made me uneasy all over again, but his eyes were...

I can only describe it as not-quite-pain. He looked like he was in pain about something, but what it was, I couldn't guess.

As I had expected, the wound on my side was now just a scar - an ugly scar, granted, but it would also fade in time. The thing that mattered was that it didn't hurt, and except for a slight numbness of the skin, I couldn't feel much of a difference when Groudon experimentally poked at it. I just hoped it wouldn't carry over to my natural form; explaining it to everyone who was curious (and they would _all_ be curious) would be a pain in the ass.

After what seemed like an absolute age to me and, I'm sure, to Manaphy, who was back to chewing on Groudon's bootlaces, Groudon pronounced that he couldn't really find anything wrong. I thought I heard reluctance in his voice, but I was just too happy to care.

Finally! I was going to be able to be _me_ again!

Don't get me wrong; the past week or so had gotten me much more used to my human form than I previously had been, and I was no longer so awkward in it, but I didn't feel like myself. No matter how used to my human guise I got, there would still always be that sense of wrongness to it, and for a good reason.

I am not a human. I am a Pokémon, and I always have been. Always will be, too, I'm willing to bet. As such, being in human guise will never be truly comfortable for me, or for any other Pokémon that manages it. Oh sure, there are some like Latias who have no trouble going back and forth between the two forms, but even she will admit when pressed that there is a certain sense of relief to returning to her true self.

Latios hadn't liked the transformation much either, she'd told me on the way back from our outing that day. He'd liked humans and had enjoyed playing with them on occasion (apparently he'd also made weekly visits to a certain baker, who was more than happy to give a few treats to one of the resident guardian Pokémon), but preferred to keep the distinction between them and us very clear.

To be honest, I was actually not very sure just _why_ Arceus decided to grant us the ability to assume human forms. No one had bothered to ask, as far as I was aware, and she just sprang it on us out of the blue during one of our previous meetings. Forced it on us, more like, but you get the point. I suppose you could make an argument that it's better for stealth, but...

Anyway, no matter how used to this human body I was, I would always be happier in my true form.

Too riled up to wait any longer, I quickly stood up and moved past Groudon, bumping into his shoulder and almost tripping over Manaphy in my haste. I vaguely registered Groudon grabbing Manaphy from under my feet and shouting a "Hey, be careful!" at my back, but the water was calling me and I zeroed in on it with an intensity I hadn't felt in a long time.

Changing back to my regular self would take a fair bit of energy, but it was energy I now actually had to spare, and I needed to be a fair distance away from anybody else to avoid accidentally crushing them. Perhaps Groudon realized this, because out of the corner of my eye, I saw the customary flash as he resumed his own natural form. Manaphy was being carefully held in the palm of one of his paws, which was being held out as flat as possible.

Concerning, but as long as they were careful...and now.

I couldn't wait any longer.

Still not caring that I was naked and that they both could see everything (Manaphy wouldn't know the difference and wouldn't care even if he did, and Groudon...well, he could just deal with it because it was only for a few more seconds), I quickly made my way to the pool of water that went down, down, down and opened into the ocean below. Not even bothering to get in slowly, I jumped in, making some water slosh onto the floor of the Cave of Origin.

And then...

I closed my eyes and imagined growing bigger, hands becoming flippers, long blue hair receding until it was gone, skin turning from light peach to dark blue with red stripes and white underbelly, legs forming together to become my elegant tail, teeth becoming sharp fangs, and—

This time, the flash of light was of my own doing.

When I opened my eyes again, the world around me seemed a little smaller. But of course it would - my human form was roughly five-foot-eight, give or take an inch. My natural self, on the other hand, was fourteen feet long from snout to tail tip, and big enough to seat several humans on my back.

I couldn't help the delighted laugh that burst out of me then, and I watched as the expelling of air caused bubbles to rise from my mouth to the surface of the water. The passage of water I was in was slightly narrower than I was used to in, but I experimentally rolled over until I was on my back. I was moving a little more jerkily than normal, but I supposed that that was a given. It had been a while since I'd done this, after all.

The joy coursing through me at being _me_ again was incredible.

I'd never felt happier, nor had I ever felt more _alive_ than this moment. Gone were my weak human limbs and my frail human body, to be replaced with the strength and power of a Legendary Pokémon: Kyogre, queen of the ocean, had returned!

Sighing happily, I resurfaced, not caring that doing so caused more seawater to slosh over the sides of the pool and into the Cave of Origin.

"Well, don't you look happy," a deep voice greeted me almost sarcastically.

I opened one eye to meet the source of it, its tone slightly bothering me but still too happy to truly care.

"Of course I am!" I replied, rolling over again and sending yet more water into the cave. It began to make its way everywhere, I saw with some embarrassment, and Groudon quickly scooted out of the way when it came for him, shooting me a glare all the while.

Manaphy, on the other hand, merely stared at me for a moment. He tapped on Groudon's palm, gesturing urgently to me with his other paw. Gingerly, Groudon bent and allowed him to disembark, and the hyperactive blue speck made his way to me at a pace approaching light speed.

"MAMA! MAMA BACK!" he shouted, flinging himself at my face and attaching himself to my snout. Once there, he crawled to my forehead and clung, nuzzling his face into my skin. "Mama normal!"

I huffed, though it was all in play. "I'm always normal!"

I allowed him to crawl all over the parts of me that were above the water, being careful to not slosh anymore into Groudon's cave - he could take care of it instantly by making it evaporate with an Overheat or whatever, but he was doubtless less than thrilled with the water I'd already splashed into his living space. I had to shake Manaphy away from my blowhole a few times, but he seemed happy to stay close to my face, returning to my forehead every few minutes to nuzzle me again, and finally parking himself at the tip of my snout like...oh, what is that thing that humans used to put at the bow of their ships...ah, yes, a figurehead. Like a figurehead, but looking as distinctly unlike a mermaid as possible.

Just as I was about to dive beneath the water to go home, something red caught my eye, and I cursed to myself. And here I was, about to not even thank Groudon for all his help!

_Wow, Kyogre, way to be completely rude!_

"Um..." I said, suddenly feeling shy for reasons I wasn't quite sure of. I...I didn't really know what I was supposed to say. Thanks for letting me crash here while I recovered and for putting up with my kid, seeya later? Ugh, no, that wouldn't do, but what would?

My heart was beating entirely too fast, and that stupid _feeling_ was back in full force. I was nervous, as odd as that seemed.

Where was Rayquaza when I needed him? He'd know what to say in this kind of situation! ...actually, no, he wouldn't, now that I thought about it. He'd just be all, "Thanks for the help, now goodbye" and just leave. OK, where was _Latias_ when I needed her? Or Suicune? Somebody who knew how to deal with this kind of crap!

"Thank...you?" I finally settled on, wincing when it came out sounding uncertain.

Groudon just snorted, still staying over by the wall where it was less wet. "You're welcome."

Just like that? Really? Was that all it took?

I frowned. "I'm trying to be nice here, you know, but it's a little hard. I—"

"Yes, I know you find it hard to deal with me, Kyogre. You look very happy to be able to leave."

I blinked, the building annoyance leaving me completely in favor of confusion. "What?" That hadn't been what I was about to say at all. Where had he gotten _that_ idea from? I mean, sure, I was happy to be able to leave, but not because I couldn't stand being around him. And sure, we'd been awkward the past two days, but that was my _own_ fault, not his. Surely he got that, though, right? _I_ was the one who'd been refusing to meet _his_ gaze, not the other way around, and as I stared at him now, I felt a strange sort of anxiety coming over me.

Different from the feeling from before and very different from nervousness, this felt strangely like _fear_, but that was ridiculous, because I had nothing to be afraid of. But I was. I was afraid of what he thought, and, for some reason, I was afraid he was angry with me.

I'd never been afraid of that before. Usually, I was more than happy to anger him, and I'd very eagerly get angry in return, matching his rage with my own and meeting him head on and...

"It's alright, Kyogre. I know you're sick of me by now and you have places to be, probably to find that wonderful _friend_ of yours - he should still be at Mt. Chimney until tomorrow, so if you hurry, you can catch him before he goes back to Unova. Now just go before you splash more water into my cave. It's damn annoying."

I flinched back, making Manaphy cry out and grab onto my snout as he almost fell off from the force of my movement. My flipper came up to support him, and he gripped it until he'd regained his balance.

And then I felt the confusion bleeding back into anger.

"What the hell is _this_ about?" I asked heatedly. "When did I ever say anything like that?"

"You haven't been able to look me in the face for longer than two seconds for the past few days, and nothing I do or say seems to get through to you," he snapped, glaring back at me. It registered in my mind that we were coming dangerously close to another of our famous arguments, and so soon after we'd finally managed to get along. We'd gotten along better this past week than we _ever_ had, and I'd enjoyed it. I hadn't realized how much I'd enjoyed it, but finding myself so angry at him so quickly again hurt me.

The glare on his face hurt me more, though. I'd seen contempt on his face before, but nothing quite like this.

I tried once again to open my mouth and explain as best I could without going into too many uncomfortable details. I was even about to apologize for my behavior, but he beat me to the punch.

"What am I supposed to think, hm? You barely look at me, and you barely seem to want to talk to me anymore for some reason. I don't know what it was that I did to piss you off so badly, but I'm really not in the mood to be around you anymore. Just go find Reshiram and have fun with him already, I'm sick and tired of dealing with you. It'll be better that way for all of us."

Something made its way out of my left eye and down my cheek, but I quickly wiped it away with my flipper. There was no way I was about to cry over this - I'd done nothing wrong, and I'd been in the middle of _thanking_ him for his help and trying to explain my awkwardness when he'd gone and pulled _this_ for some reason.

No.

Screw it. Apparently I was a complete idiot for thinking we could get along, and I wasn't going to make the same mistake again. Manaphy would just have to learn to deal without him, because there was no way I was ever coming back here. Not even if Rayquaza ordered me, not even if Arceus herself ordered me, not even if I was near-fatally wounded again.

A strange look crossed over Groudon's face as I wiped at my eye. It looked like a cross between surprise and guilt, the same look as when he'd gone too far in his insults in the time before...before all _this_, but I was past caring. My heart was hurting worse than I could ever remember it hurting before, and a mixture of this and my own anger combined into something ugly.

"_I hate you,_" I snapped, feeling more of those blasted tears coming to my eyes. I blinked furiously, baring my teeth in the effort to not let them fall. There was no reason for me to cry. I was hurt, but that was because I'd been stupid enough to trust him for some reason, and now I realized how stupid I'd really been.

We'd never be able to get along. It just wasn't meant to happen, and this fact had never been more clear to me than it was now.

Manaphy looked first at me, then at Groudon, and gave a tiny whimper that I would have missed had he not been literally sitting on me at the moment.

"Kyogre—" Groudon started, taking a step forward, one paw stretched out towards me.

I didn't let him finish. I didn't want to hear what he had to say; I was hurting and angry and I just wanted to be alone to get the hurt and the anger out before I did something drastic and/or attacked him. I still had Manaphy to think of, and if I attacked Groudon or he attacked me, then Manaphy _would_ get hurt.

More than anything, I had to think of that. It wasn't just me at stake here, it was my little one. And I didn't want him to witness anymore of this nonsense than he absolutely had to; he'd already seen too much. So, instead of hitting Groudon with a Surf attack like I desperately wanted to, I chose to concentrate on my silently crying baby and dove back down into the pool, making sure to flick my tail so that a large wave splashed into the Cave of Origin.

Manaphy clung to my snout as I swam faster than I probably should have, his sobs now audible. It killed me to know that he was hurting, but, well, so was I. At least he had the luxury of crying. There was no way in hell I was going to let myself cry over this, even if it did feel like my heart had just been ripped in half.

I needed some time to collect myself. Then I would go see Reshiram, as he had requested, and I would be back to my regular self. I would be fine, and I would never allow myself to trust my earthbound counterpart like that again.

* * *

**AN: A little short. I ended up scrapping most of my original ideas for this one, and so it's not nearly as long as I would have liked. Hngh. And they're fighting again, which kind of killed me to write because they were getting along fairly well before, but it's all in the name of development. Or something.**

**This seems a bit...shoujo manga-ish to me for some reason. Then again, a friend of mine recently got me to read the first couple books of **_**Dengeki DAISY**_** and **_**Skip Beat!**_**, so maybe I still have them on the brain. **

**Updates are going to be bi-weekly from now on, by the way. I'd love to keep updating weekly as per my original intent, but with the way my schedule for the next couple months is looking, I doubt I'd be able to keep it up. Once every two weeks is much more feasible, not to mention much less of a strain on me. I really am sorry for not being able to update more often. It's very frustrating for me as well. In a few months when I'm not so swamped, I will probably return to the weekly updates.**

**Thank you for reading, and I hope you all are having a much better time than I am!**


	13. In which Reshiram offers information

**Almost had some trouble getting this one up in time. My coworker is officially on maternity leave, and my workload has gone up even more as a result. Not to mention my mooch of an aunt is attempting to barge into my life again...this wouldn't be such an issue if only she were nice at times besides when she needs money. Hopefully she'll get the hint that I won't be giving her jack, but she can be annoyingly persistent. Other than that, I spend most of my evenings too tired to move, but yesterday and today I managed to get in some good, much-needed art and writing time.**

**Disclaimer: All I can really claim ownership of is each Pokémon's personality, and even then only slightly. **_**Pokémon**_** itself belongs to Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri. Anything you don't recognize as canon most likely belongs to me, however.**

**Going Off The Deep End  
By: Saya Moonshadow**

That...that _bastard!_

I swam as fast as I could away from the water entrance to the Cave of Origin, not even able to truly appreciate being back to my regular self. I had spent hours wishing for it, and now that it had actually happened, I couldn't even take the time to revel in it. Beautiful.

Damn him! Damn him, damn him, damn him—

Just _what_ had all that been about? When the hell did I say I was ungrateful or anything like that? I mean, I knew I had been acting weird the last few days, but I'd been about to apologize and explain myself as best I could without embarrassing either of us! If he'd just _listened_ to me...ugh.

I shook my head as a fresh wave of pain came over my heart. I was not going to mope about this. Anger was easier to deal with, and so rather than concentrate on how badly I was hurting, I let myself be angry instead.

I would have liked to rage and thrash about like I normally did when this incensed, but at the last second, I remembered that Manaphy was still sitting on my snout and managed to calm myself down.

If I gave into my usual routine, I would most certainly hurt him. He was already crying, doing nothing to hide the fact, and this hurt me worse than _his_ words had. It should have just been between the two of us, but like idiots, we'd allowed it to unfold in front of Manaphy.

Some parents we made...

Sharply, I checked myself. _I_ was Manaphy's only parent. The only one he'd ever _need_ as a parent. He certainly didn't need some jumped-up _groundpounder_ of a giant red lizard who couldn't shut up long enough to _listen when his counterpart tried to tell him things and apologize for how she'd been treating him—_

Despite my earlier thoughts, I couldn't help the screech that burst from me at that thought, and I swam faster. My muscles burned in protest after my week of non-activity, but I didn't care. Damn him! DAMN HIM!

I swore, if he ever came near me again...I'd...I'd...

_Probably cry,_ some meaner part of sneered. Just the thought of seeing him again was painful.

Why did Arceus have to go and put me in a trio with him and Rayquaza? I could handle Rayquaza, who at least treated me with some modicum of respect, tempered with exasperation though it usually was. At least he didn't let me think we could be something resembling friends and then go and pull _this_ kind of crap on me. Rayquaza told me everything up straight, no matter what it was. Hell, the first thing he'd ever said to me was, _"Are you sure I'm supposed to talk to you? You're chubby."_

Chubby, my tail fin! This was blubber! I was _supposed_ to have blubber!

Though, come to think of it, I...couldn't remember the first time I'd met Grou- _him_. It just seemed like I'd always hated him and he'd always hated me, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember when or why that hatred had started. It must have been early on, though, because it was literally the only thing I'd ever felt concerning him...

I sighed, finally slowing down from my power swimming. We were a pretty decent ways away from the Cave of Origin by this time, and I was beginning to calm down, my anger starting to simmer off as well. I didn't want it to go away. As long as I was angry, that kept me from concentrating on the hurt, and I was beginning to get scared that if I _did_ concentrate on it, I'd actually cry. I hadn't cried in...in _years_. I couldn't even remember the last time something had driven me to legitimate tears, and yet here I was, fighting it off because of a stupid fight with my stupid counterpart.

Really, what had Arceus been thinking when she made us counterparts? She must have known we were going to clash, what with the personalities and elements she gave us. Why couldn't I have been counterparts with Entei or someone instead? Despite the fact that my element conflicted with his, we still got along rather well. Literally anyone else would have been better than who I had.

I concentrated on my again-mounting fury with a will. That IDIOT! I swore, if he dared speak to me ever again, I'd make sure he would regret it! I'd drown him in the pool at the Hall of Origin if I had to!

Coming to a complete halt, I felt my anger go down again as I looked at Manaphy. His crying was much softer now, like he was running out of steam, but he was clinging to me so he wouldn't go flying off, I saw guiltily. I shouldn't have taken off like that, not without putting him in his pouch first, at least.

Wonderful. Not only was I a naive fool, but I was a terrible mother on top of that. This day was turning out to be just beautiful...

"Hey, there," I said softly to catch his attention. I smiled a little when he looked up at me. Had we not been underwater, his face would have been streaked with tears, but his eyes were bloodshot and his mouth was screwed up as he bit his lower lip. I brought one flipper up to him, and he gripped it, whimpering as he nuzzled his face into one of my digits. "I'm sorry, Manaphy," I continued in that same soft tone. "I know this has to be hard for you, but it'll be alright. OK? So no more crying."

He looked at me sadly - and ready to start crying again, I saw with dismay. "No da," he whimpered.

I couldn't help the wince that rippled through me. "No," I said firmly, swallowing back my feelings over it. I wasn't going to let this get to me anymore than it already had. If I felt anything, it would be anger, and I would never allow this to happen again. "He's not...not that. He's just someone I shouldn't have trusted in the first place."

He shook his head but didn't press the issue, much to my relief. I wasn't ready to argue over it, and I was glad he wasn't either, as horrible as that may sound.

I sighed again, watching disinterestedly as the bubbles released by it floated to the surface of the water. "OK, then, back to your..."

I froze, realizing for the first time that I couldn't feel the familiar weight of his carrying pouch on my right flipper. A look in that direction confirmed it - like a total idiot, I had forgotten the pouch at the Cave of Origin. I'd been so wrapped up first in becoming me again and then in all of _that_ that it had completely slipped my mind. Likely it was still resting against the wall near the nest of sheets I'd been using as a bed, right where I'd left it so that I _wouldn't_ forget about it.

Oh Arceus. I really _was_ an idiot; a naive, forgetful idiot. This meant that I'd have to go get a new one from the Alto Mare market...

No, I decided right away. I'd have to bring Latias with me or she'd be hurt when she found out I'd been in the area and hadn't said hi to her, and she'd also want to know what had happened to the other one we'd picked out. I wasn't so sure I could keep the truth from her, or if she'd already know, and I didn't think I'd be ready to explain anytime soon. Or ever.

Perhaps I could have gone to one of the markets in Slateport or Pacifidlog or Lilycove, but I'd have to find somewhere for Manaphy to stay while I was out. And after those humans had tried to snatch him before I'd gone to get the first pouch - the _reason_ I'd gone to get the first pouch, actually - I was very wary of leaving him alone for any length of time. Leaving him in Latias' garden had been one thing, especially when Rayquaza had shown up - he couldn't get out of there by himself and Rayquaza would be more than enough to protect him from anything that might happen - but I refused to let him be alone. Nor were there any other Pokémon that I quite trusted well enough to leave him with.

Rayquaza was also out, as he'd want to know first what happened to the old pouch and then why I couldn't just go back and get it, and that wouldn't work. The Regi trio...Arceus, absolutely not. I didn't know them well enough at all, and they'd never shown to have more than the collective intelligence of the average wall. No other Legends I trusted well enough were in this area, and it would be stupid to ask Suicune or someone to come all the way from another region just to watch my baby for a few hours.

I'd just have to go without a pouch from now on. Manaphy stuck close to me most times anyway, and there had been no other instances of anyone trying to snatch him. They'd probably given up or written it off as not worth it or something. Not like we'd been anywhere near humans in weeks, anyway, even before my injury...perhaps they'd forgotten about him.

Unlikely, but I'd just have to watch him extra close, then. Though it wasn't like I didn't already do that to begin with.

I took a deep breath through my nostrils to clear my mind. My anger had simmered off during my thoughts, leaving me with a very heavy weight on my chest that I was determined to ignore. At this point, I just wanted to go back to the spot near the shallows of the beach at Slateport I'd claimed as my own and go to sleep until I felt better, but I wanted to talk to Reshiram before he left.

Hopefully he hadn't already, I thought, then turned my attention back to Manaphy. "Looks like we forgot your pouch back there, kiddo. Think you'll be OK to sit on my back for now?"

He perked up immediately, as I'd hoped, and nodded, excitement written all over his face. As much as he'd come to like the pouch, I knew he liked being out of it more, and this must have seemed perfect to him. One good thing out of a whole bunch of bad, then. I'd take what I could get, and this was taking his attention off of...everything else.

That was good enough for me.

He perched himself in front of my blowhole, and once I knew he had a good grip on me, I set off again, heading back north towards the land, being that in my anger I had apparently swum in a southerly direction. I'd send a Wingull up to fetch Reshiram, and have him meet me near one of the small islands to the south of the mainland where no humans would see us.

Just what he would want to talk about was a mystery, but I welcomed the thought of a distraction. Just so long as he didn't ask too many questions, we would be just peachy.

I soon managed to catch the attention of a small flock of Wingull led by a large female Pelipper, and after they got done exclaiming over how happy they were to see me healthy and whole, the flock leader very gladly sent one of her Wingull to get Reshiram from Mt. Chimney for me.

I thanked them, then went to the tiny island I'd designated for our meeting spot. The Wingull would lead him there, and our meeting would commence.

More than anything, I wanted to ask him if he'd heard anything about the missing young ones. As soon as this was over, I intended to renew the search for them myself, but it wouldn't hurt to check with Reshiram first. He was an inquisitive being, and likely he'd spent the last few days wandering around and catching up on every available piece of gossip that he could find. If I was lucky, he might have heard something pertaining to my mission.

* * *

The waters at the tiny, nameless island were calm. At the current time, I was very much not in the mood for calm, because it left me with a very convenient excuse to think until Reshiram decided to pop up, and my thoughts kept trying to return to something I didn't particularly feel like remembering.

I began to regret choosing this place to meet. If only I'd chosen somewhere between Mossdeep and Pacifidlog. There were plenty of currents and whirlpools there to keep a Pokémon busy...

But with Manaphy, that would have been too dangerous, and entirely too easy for him to get accidentally swept away. He wouldn't have been strong enough to fight against those kinds of waters, at least not yet. Maybe if we still had the pouch...

Ugh. No, don't think about the pouch, because then I'll think about where I left it, and if I think about where I left it, I'll think about the owner of that place, and then—

No. Just, no. Not unless I could get angry along with the hurt that came with those thoughts, and I didn't have the energy to muster up that kind of anger right now. I felt lethargic, and all I really wanted was to take a nap.

But this came first. _Then_ I could sleep off my troubles, and then, when the sun rose tomorrow, I would renew my search for the missing little ones.

And before I slept, I'd need to eat, my stomach chose to remind me by growling just then. Lucky for me, I wasn't in the mood for much more than seaweed. A real meal of Magikarp would come when I wasn't feeling so crappy.

Oh, when was that oversized, furry dragon going to get here?! It had been over half an hour already! There had to be some way to pass the time that didn't involve moping around!

Singing. I could sing, and Arceus knew I hadn't had a chance to do it since that day Manaphy and I went deep into the ocean, right before the metal Sharpedo incident.

Yes, that sounded like a good idea, I decided, and took a deep breath before letting my voice carry out. It felt good to sing again, though my voice sounded odd in the air. Normally I sang below the water, where the songs echoed in a very pleasant way, but I supposed it didn't sound too bad above water either.

As I expected, it didn't take too long before Manaphy decided to join me again, but this time, he managed something.

I stopped my singing entirely as he let out a few notes.

"Aah-ah, aah-aahh...aah-ah, aah-ah...aah-aahhh..."

That was an actual tune this time! Not the struggling he'd been doing before, nor was it the same tune as he'd tried that day - as far as I could tell, anyway - and his voice was high and clear.

"Where did you learn that?" I asked. I couldn't see him, since he was still sitting on top of my head, but I felt him tap me lightly with both paws as he bounced up and down.

What would he sound like underwater? I was eager to find out, but I also didn't want to miss Reshiram.

"Sing! Sing! I sing!" he chanted happily.

Either he didn't understand the question, or he was just making it up as he went along. If the latter was true, then he had a talent. That song sounded very similar to Wailord song, but...different. I couldn't explain it, except to say that it was a tune I'd never heard before that nonetheless sounded slightly familiar to me. He didn't sound like he was trying to emulate anything, instead singing very clearly. Whatever was going on, he obviously knew what he was doing.

I shook my head softly so as not to dislodge him and occupied myself by copying his song. This earned me a couple happy bounces and a shout of "Mama! Yes!" before he joined me.

And so we harmonized together for the next ten or so minutes before the beating of a large pair of wings caught my attention.

Breaking off my singing (though Manaphy didn't seem to notice and kept going), I turned my gaze to the sky. As I'd expected, Reshiram was making his way towards me, slightly behind a tired-looking Wingull. Upon spotting me, his face broke out into a grin and I watched as he dismissed the Wingull, who nodded once and took back off for his flock at the mainland.

I swam up to the shore of the little island, and Reshiram alighted in front of me, frowning distastefully as the water swept over his feet. I hid a grin when he looked at me, and Manaphy finally realized that it was time to stop singing.

"You!"

"Me," Reshiram dipped his head in greeting. "Was that you I heard singing just now?"

I confirmed this.

"Hm. Well, it was nothing I'd ever heard before. Wailord song, I'd presume?"

I had to confess I didn't actually know. "I'm not sure. He just started singing it, and I just...went along."

"Really?" He peered at Manaphy closely. "Well, that's certainly interesting. How old is he now? And what is he, exactly?"

"A few months old," I replied. "Latias found his egg right before the last Legendary meeting a few months ago, and I...just kind of got stuck with him when he hatched. Punishment detail from Arceus and stuff. He's a Manaphy, and is apparently the last of his kind. No idea what his abilities or moveset will be once he's grown, though."

"Hm..." Reshiram squinted down at Manaphy, who met his gaze squarely without flinching. This in itself was a feat, being that Reshiram was a very large being, even for a Dragon-type, and Manaphy was all of a foot tall. But he hadn't been afraid of Rayquaza or Groudon either...

I felt a fresh stab to my chest at that thought, and viciously shoved it away. Not the time for that, I reminded myself. Not _ever_ the time for that, if I had my way.

I steered the conversation towards the kidnapped babies, and to my delight, Reshiram admitted easily to having picked up on tales of other young ones going missing in other parts of Hoenn. It was a small group of humans, from what he heard, and apparently kept their faces hidden during their excursions. "From what I've heard, only a few at a time venture out during these trips, but it seems they each use a Butterfree with a very strong Sleep Powder technique. Or so I was told by a Breloom living in that quaint little forest near...Petalburg, was it? Yes, I believe so."

"You weren't seen, were you?" I asked, suddenly worried. The last thing we needed was for some humans to have spotted him and go looking for why a Unova Legendary was hanging around Hoenn. Humans tended to freak out about that kind of thing - hell, they tended to freak out about _anything_ concerning Legendary Pokémon whatsoever.

He waved my worries away with one elegant wing. "Oh, sure, but I was in my own human form at the time, so no one paid me any heed. And it was at nighttime, for extra protection. But back to the main point - it would appear that you have an actual something or other going on here, Kyogre, and not just an isolated incident. I would be willing to bet that these humans are looking for something, though I cannot begin to guess just what that might be. Just be grateful it is only this and not the problems Sinnoh is having right now."

"Why?" I asked, once more on my guard and worried. "What's happening in Sinnoh?"

He looked surprised and then said, "Oh, yes, you have been rather indisposed as of late. Well, and I do not know all of the details, but I have heard that there is a group there who have managed to lay their filthy hands upon Uxie, Azelf, and...Mesprit, I believe? Yes, them. Where they are or what they are planning is a mystery to me, more is the pity, but that Steel-type is having an absolute fit over it."

I struggled to digest this information. Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit had been captured by humans? Humans who, like Team Aqua and Team Magma, wanted them for something terrible, I was willing to bet. "You don't know anything else? Is Dialga alright? What about Palkia? They can't get to Giratina, since he's in the Distortion World and they'd need both Palkia and Dialga to open _that_ up and I don't know of anyone who would _want_ to, but—"

"Calm down!" Reshiram spoke loudly over me, cutting me off before I could get hysterical. The Emotion Trio, as they are sometimes known, were among the more delicate of all of us Legendary Pokémon. Roughly the same size of my Manaphy, they were indeed powerful Psychics, but their defensive capabilities left much to be desired. "Worry not, Kyogre. That gaudy Steel-type will find them and rescue them. And I have heard that there is a young human Trainer who has been taking it upon herself to shut this team down as she goes along her journey." He turned an amused eye upon me. "Much like that young boy did here to Team Aqua and Team Magma, am I correct?"

One could only hope. It was true that that weird kid with the white hair had indeed helped liberate me and _him_ from Team Aqua and Magma by summoning Rayquaza - pah, he'd have come by eventually, anyway, but at least this way he was early - but the difference was that we were big, strong, and very defense-heavy. Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit were fast and had great Special Attack, but lagged behind the rest of us Legendary Pokémon in nearly everything else. They were much too delicate to handle the kind of things _he_ and I had been forced into.

I just hoped Dialga managed to find them in time, and that she stayed safe herself. Arceus help us if anyone ever managed to get their hands on her, the deity of Time...the damage could be catastrophic, same as what would happen if Palkia were taken. Giratina...I didn't even want to think about it.

As I was busy worrying to myself, Reshiram took a look over at the horizon and let out an annoyed sound. "Tchah! I will have to cut this short, I am afraid, my dear one. The sun is setting, and in all honesty, I should have been on my way home last night. Zekrom is going to have my head for being late..."

I managed to smile despite my own conflicts. "She's just worried. She cares a lot about you." To my surprise and satisfaction, the white fur on his cheeks took on a reddish hue.

"Y-yes, well..." He was stammering! I'd literally never heard of this happening before; he was usually so composed and, as a certain someone who I was _not_ going to think of had said, condescendingly amused about the world around him. To think all I had to do to throw him off balance was to talk about his own counterpart caring for him... "Ahem, well, that does not matter much. Idealistic nonsense, to be sure. Of course, I suppose she feels she must make up for Kyurem not caring about me either way..."

Somehow, the part about Kyurem didn't surprise me. She'd never struck me as a particularly emotional being, and I had to admit I'd actually never heard her speak. Each time I'd seen her, she'd either stayed in the corner or near Reshiram and/or Zekrom. Definitely not a social girl, that one.

I shook my head at Reshiram's continued mutterings. And I had thought Raikou and Suicune were in denial? For someone who was usually so anal about the truth, he sure wasn't willing to accept this.

"If you're sure," I said cajolingly, grinning when he frowned at me. "Let me know if you find anything else out, though, OK? About Sinnoh, I mean."

"You could always ask your trio leader," he pointed out. "He seems rather well-informed, and he is the one who I found that all out from."

It was my turn to frown. So Rayquaza had known about all this and yet hadn't seen fit to inform me about it? You could bet that the next time I saw him, I'd be having words with him about this...injured or not, I would have wanted to know!

I bade Reshiram goodbye, and he waved at me with one wing before taking off, quickly becoming a white speck on the horizon. Hopefully he'd have a safe journey. Hopefully his own region would stay safe from any troublemaking teams, but they did seem to pop up with alarming regularity. Team Rocket in Kanto and Johto, Team Aqua and Magma here, and now this new one in Sinnoh...

And the unknown ones who were taking little ones all around Hoenn, apparently. What the hell were they after? And how could I go about finding this out?

Oi. Instead of feeling better, as I'd hoped, I could feel a monstrous headache coming on.

Sleep was sounding better and better the more I thought about it.

Manaphy had dropped off to his own sleep during my conversation with Reshiram, and so I took off for my little patch of home as carefully as I could so as not to wake him. The relief I felt upon reaching my claimed spot, however, was amazing. I hadn't realized just how much I had been missing it until now.

Still, I couldn't help the paranoia I felt. And so, as softly as possible, I reached up to my forehead with one flipper and went off to sleep with him clutched just under my jaw, making sure to float above the sand so I wouldn't accidentally hurt him.

I didn't want to take any chances. I _would_ keep him safe, and that was final.

* * *

**AN: I like to imagine that the tune Kyogre sings is "Yuna's Ballad" from **_**Final Fantasy X-2**_**. Mediocre game, but I liked most of the music.**

**Manaphy's tune, on the other hand, is the first song that he sings in **_**Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea**_**. Singing seems to be an integral part of him (at least in the anime), so I don't want to leave it out. Gives him something to bond with Kyogre over to, even if she can't make heads or tails of what he's trying to do xD**

**No, the part about Sinnoh and Team Galactic will **_**not**_** be a real part of this story. It's more just a nod to the fact that each new generation has a different trouble-causing team, and now that Hoenn's two have been defeated, it's time for Sinnoh's to rise and cause problems over there. It's more or less following the storyline in _Platinum Version_, for those of you who are wondering.  
**

**Good God, I'm tired. It's 11:21 here, and I'm about to go to sleep on top of my keyboard. So I shall bid you goodnight, and see you all in two weeks!**


	14. In which Rayquaza laughs at Groudon

**_So_****, I almost didn't make this update on time. The WiFi at my house is having issues - aka, unless the device in question is literally right next to the modem, it won't connect, and as I have a desktop and not a laptop, this is a problem - so I wound up having to put this on a Pages document, upload it to my phone, and then copy-paste it from the document on my phone into the Document Manager for this site. Thank the stars for being able to access the internet through the phone network...anyway, as a result, there will _probably_ be some formatting issues. If you see any, please let me know so I can take care of them once my WiFi is back to normal. Bolding and italicizing everything with my phone is horrible...**

**By the way, guys, if an update is late or whatever, check my profile _before_ bitching at me about it. I have a Life Status section there where I make sure to put down whatever is going on at the current point in time, so if I don't manage to make a deadline, that's a good place to check for the reason why. I know it's annoying - trust me, I really do. But I'm doing my best, and I still managed to get this up despite the problems.**

**Short chapter this time and about Rayquaza, because the last two weeks were awful and my writing time amounted to practically zero as a result. I'll try to make the next one a bit longer than usual to make up for it. God, I can't wait for this month to be over.**

**Disclaimer: All I can really claim ownership of is each Pokémon's personality, and even then only slightly. _Pokémon_ itself belongs to Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri. Anything you don't recognize as canon most likely belongs to me, however.**

**Going Off The Deep End  
By: Saya Moonshadow**

He might as well have been dealing with human children, the way they carried on.

Having gone back to the Cave of Origin to check up on his two trio-mates, the Sky High Pokémon had not only discovered that Kyogre was gone, but they had apparently somehow managed to have yet _another_ fight. Judging by the salt water that still soaked the floor of the cave, it had almost certainly come to blows, though Groudon assured him that the water had been a parting shot on her end and only words were exchanged.

He'd refused to elaborate on what _kind_ of words these had been, but Rayquaza was a sharp being and drew his own conclusions.

"Is it really impossible for the two of you to get along for longer than a moment?" he asked, keeping his voice as neutral as possible. Ordinarily he wouldn't have bothered trying to be nice, but Groudon was looking particularly miserable and some long-ignored part of Rayquaza had somehow managed to rear its ugly head and tell him to be kind.

That the voice sounded very suspiciously like Latias was of no consequence whatsoever, he told himself.

Groudon grunted and looked away from him. "Apparently," the Continent Pokémon muttered, staring moodily at the cave wall.

"And what exactly did you say to make this happen? Or what did _she_ say to make it happen? Or was Reshiram lying when he said the two of you were actually enjoying each other's presence?"

He almost snorted at the thought - Reshiram, lying? That went against everything in the white dragon's admittedly odd moral code. Deliberately withholding pieces of information was one thing - technically, that wasn't lying - but outright falsehoods were usually more than the Fire-type could handle. Arceus knew he'd had more than one fit over fibs being told at the meetings he and the other Unova Legends had been present for...

At this, Groudon's face closed up even more, and he bared his teeth in a way that might have intimidated Rayquaza had he not had the advantage in both type and overall strength. As it was, it surprised him. Groudon could very often be hostile, yes, but he usually knew better than to be so rude to his trio master. "Neither of us said anything out of the ordinary. I just told her to go find that _dragon_ she was missing so much, and we got into it from there. Then, she splashed water all over my cave and swam away. Nothing more, nothing less."

He was very definitely lying, Rayquaza knew immediately, at least about one thing. If it indeed hadn't been "anything out of the ordinary", then neither of them would have been this upset. And then he registered another thing his trio-mate had said, and before he could stop it, an incredulous laugh had bubbled out of him.

Immediately, he clamped one claw over his mouth and cleared his throat, but the damage was done. Groudon stared at him with a mix of shock and annoyance - shock at the laughter, and annoyance because it was very obviously aimed at _him_. Rayquaza had a hard time remembering the last time he'd truly laughed in front of someone else and not sarcastically or with intent to embarrass them, but it had been...sometime around when cars were first being introduced to the general human public, if he recalled correctly.

"What are you laughing about?" Groudon asked suspiciously. The emerald dragon was grateful that at least he was being given a chance to compose himself, and he immediately cleared his throat again.

"Ah, just something I noticed," he said as seriously as he could. The urge to laugh again was still there, he noticed with dismay - but for a good reason, because this couldn't _possibly_ be what was happening. Of all conceivable scenarios he could come up with, this was one of the least likely, and that was saying something. "You say she was missing a dragon? There aren't too many of those around here besides me and Latias..."

He watched with hidden satisfaction as his Earth-type counterpart growled warningly, and pretended to have not noticed. Though he kept an eye on the claws. Groudon may have not been able to hurt him with his specialty type attacks, but Rayquaza knew from experience that the Continent Pokémon could deliver one hell of a mean Slash when provoked.

The very first time he'd been forced to intervene in a Groudon/Kyogre argument, he'd very stupidly chosen to dart in between them - just as they both attacked. He'd been able to dodge Kyogre's Bite with only a small scratch on his snout to show for it, but in turn had rolled right into Groudon's Slash, which had sliced into his softer underbelly quite alarmingly. He still had the scars from that encounter near the middle of his long body, and he'd learned to hit them from a distance whenever they started going at it. But in his defense, he'd been very young that first time, and they'd been even younger.

But this...now, this was very interesting. He stifled a chuckle when it threatened to burst out of him. "I realize she had not seen either me or Latias since before her...accident, but she sees us both quite frequently as it is. Was she really missing Latias that much? Or was it _me_ she was missing?"

Groudon merely glared at him, though Rayquaza noted with increasing interest that he was getting nervous. Nervous? Oh, Arceus, this took the cake. If it was true, he swore, he'd never let either of them live it down.

He so rarely indulged in the impulse to tease, and said impulse was very strong right now. Who knew when he'd get such an opportunity again?

_Note to self: go find Kyogre immediately as soon as this is done._

"I suppose, now that I think of it, I haven't spoken to her much the past few weeks...the last time we really talked, she shoved that little nuisance onto me so she and Latias could go and do...whatever it is they were doing. I don't really know, but I guess that means she must trust me quite a bit, right, if she left Manaphy with me?"

The look on Groudon's face darkened with every passing second, and Rayquaza almost regretted giving into his impulse to tease. Almost. The two damn idiots had caused him enough grief throughout the centuries that he deserved some recompense, and, damn it, he was collecting on it whether Groudon liked it or not.

And maybe he was genuinely concerned for them. That _might_ have been a factor in there as well, though it wasn't like he'd ever admit it to either of them.

He made a mock-realization face, marveling all the while at how easy this was. He'd have to do this more often; it was really a lot of fun... "But wait! I heard that Latias and I aren't the only dragons in Hoenn right now, now that I think about it...just a few days ago, I saw Reshiram resting in Mt. Chimney, and we spoke for a few seconds..."

That their conversation had been mostly, "Get the hell out of my region!" - "Not until I've done what I came for!" was left unsaid. He doubted Groudon would have cared.

Groudon's face darkened immeasurably at the mention of Reshiram, however, and Rayquaza knew he'd struck gold. He couldn't quite restrain the half-chuckle, half snort that issued from him at this. Arceus above, it was really happening. It was actually happening, and he hadn't noticed.

...damn it all, that meant he owed Latias an apology. She'd been quite adamant that something could happen between his two emotionally-challenged counterparts, and he'd shot her suggestions down in a heartbeat. Gah! She'd be insufferable once he told her!

"Groudon," he sighed, deciding to cut to the chase. Teasing was fun, but he was tired, and anymore of this and Groudon might just throw caution to the winds and actually attack him. "Please tell me you didn't start a fight with her because you got jealous."

"Jealous?" Groudon snapped, sounding disgusted at the very thought, but Rayquaza had seen the panicked way his eyes had widened for a split second. "That's one of the _stupidest_ things I've ever heard you say," the land lizard hissed venomously.

Arceus above, it had really happened. He didn't know whether he was more amused or disturbed by this. Maybe half and half...

Rayquaza rolled his eyes as his earthbound counterpart continued to rant in a low voice about how stupid of a suggestion it was - all the while flexing his claws in the way he only ever did when he was hiding something. Rayquaza may not have been quite as close to either of his trio-mates as certain other trios were to each other, but he knew them both fairly well. Memorizing their distinctive tics and tells for when someone was about to fly off the handle had long ago proven to be a necessity, and he could proudly say that he knew them all.

"Right," he said sarcastically over Groudon's continued muttering, "and I'm sure that your not being jealous is what resulted in her decision to redecorate your cave for you?" He noticed the yellow pouch Kyogre had kept Manaphy in floating among the water and made his way over to it, looping it around his left arm and making a mental note to give it back to her.

"Rayquaza," Groudon growled menacingly, but as usual, Rayquaza fell a little short of impressed.

"Yes, yes, I get the point," he sighed, carefully avoiding touching the water as he made his way towards the land entrance of the cave. He'd apparently worn out his welcome, and if he were to be perfectly honest, he'd admit that he was beginning to get a little claustrophobic in here. "You were very much _not_ jealous, and this not jealousy of yours caused a nice little spat between you and Kyogre. How did Manaphy take it, might I ask? He'd never seen you fight before, right? Actually, how did Kyogre take it? I imagine for her to do this, whatever you said must have been pretty bad—"

He cut off his sentence, somewhat regretting even starting it as the hostility dropped almost completely from Groudon's face to be replaced with something that looked entirely too much like guilt.

Arceus, it had really happened. He had to reiterate it, just to keep convincing himself that this wasn't an elaborate fever dream or something.

"Ah, well, never mind then," he said, a little quieter than before. "I'm sure I'll hear the whole story eventually."

"Yeah, whatever," Groudon muttered and turned away from him.

Rayquaza was stunned. Groudon was many things - cranky, volatile, and proud, to name but a few - but this was the first time Rayquaza had seen him actually regretting a fight with...well, anyone, much less his self-proclaimed enemy from almost the time they were created.

Feeling self-conscious, he carefully snaked his tail around to Groudon's front and flicked him on the nose. As expected, the Ground-type whirled around, eyes blazing with annoyance. Ah, there the old Groudon was...

"I'm sure, given time, she will get over it," he said seriously, and to his satisfaction, it looked like Groudon actually listened to him.

Nothing else was said other than cursory goodbyes, and it was a very thoughtful Rayquaza that found himself flying through the skies a few moments later.

Well, this was certainly...unexpected. But not unwelcome. He couldn't really say why it wasn't unwelcome, but he supposed that worse things could have happened. For one thing, they could still legitimately hate each other.

He sighed, feeling the wind caressing his scales and he flew. Damn those two; they were the cause of more headaches than they were worth.

And now he had to go see Latias to inform her of how correct she'd actually been. He just hoped she'd go easy on the bragging, though he wasn't too hopeful. He knew he sure wouldn't have been, had he been in her position.

And besides, it had been almost two days since the last time he'd seen her, and Arceus only knew what trouble she'd managed to get herself into since then. Yes, he really ought to go see her for those reasons.

Not like there were any others, of course not.

* * *

**AN: I have been informed that the ****_Pokémon: Special_**** manga was apparently on the same track as me for its ****_Ruby and Sapphire_**** arc! I never really read past the ****_Crystal_**** arc, but apparently in R&S, the Red and Blue Orbs cause Archie and Maxie to steadily go insane since they can't control their power. It's a bit different in here – they were able to control it up until Rayquaza broke the Orbs' control over Groudon and Kyogre, upon which the power had to go somewhere and Archie and Maxie just weren't able to handle it. But still, it's funny to know that apparently I was onto something there. Now I want to go read the rest of the manga (if for nothing than for Groudon and Kyogre), haha...**

**So, um, yeah. A chapter focusing on Rayquaza, because I kind of missed him and I wanted to show a bit of the aftermath of the argument from two chapters ago. The next one will be back to Kyogre and her quest to rescue the babies. And maybe something else will come to light, though I'm still in the process of figuring out where to put it. We shall see, I guess.**

**Thank you everyone who has bothered to review, favorite, alert, or even just look at this! I'll see you all in two weeks! (And hopefully by then, I'll have regular internet back!)**


	15. In which there is cold and darkness

**So **_**Wind Waker HD**_** is YES. I got the bundle on Friday when it came out, and my weekend was more or less dedicated to the digital copy that came with said bundle. And, like, guys – it's beautiful. Seriously. I cannot express how much I love what they've done with this game. I mean, the original was pretty damn good, but the new graphics coupled with all the fixes and changes they made to make it less annoying in certain areas (i.e., the Picto Box)...**

**My true love is a video game. Yes.**

**Anyway, the next update will most likely be late, depending on my schedule for that weekend. As of right now, it's kind of up in the air, but I will **_**most likely**_** be out of town if plans go well, and thus unable to get the next chapter up on time. I'll post whether or not this will be the case on my profile as soon as I know what's going to happen.**

**Disclaimer: All I can really claim ownership of is each Pokémon's personality, and even then only slightly. **_**Pokémon**_** itself belongs to Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri. Anything you don't recognize as canon most likely belongs to me, however.**

**Going Off The Deep End  
By: Saya Moonshadow**

I was sort of beginning to regret my determination to search for the missing little ones.

Well, not really - I wanted to find them, and I was willing to do anything I could to at least find out why they had been taken, but it seemed word of my mission had gotten round to pretty much all the Water-type Pokémon in the Hoenn region, and I was constantly having to stop what I was doing in order to listen to someone praise me for actually doing my work as a Legendary (their words, not mine), berate me for taking so long, or give me tidbits of information which had about a 98% chance of being completely useless.

The ones who said I was "actually doing my work as a Legendary" confused and surprised me. I did plenty of work as a Legendary Pokémon - watching over an entire region wasn't exactly easy, and I now had a child to raise on top of everything else. Most of us work hard, and I was mostly unsure how anyone could be under the assumption that we were a bunch of slackers.

I mean...sure, Mew spends most of her time playing, but she is kind of an exception to the rule. And she lives all the way in Kanto, so why she would be influencing the opinions of Hoenn residents is a moot point.

Though I supposed one could get that impression from watching the three golems that also shared this land with us. Regirock, Regice, and Registeel aren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed, and they often seem to be doing nothing, but they also have a job, that job being to guard the Tree of Beginning. They were free to sleep or do whatever so long as the Tree was safe, but by Arceus, the instant they thought it was in danger...

Well, one would probably be safer hand-feeding hungry Carvanhas.

As for the ones who berated me for taking a long time, I admit it took a lot of patience to deal with them. I had been searching for almost a month with no results even before my encounter with the fake Sharpedo, and for an entire week was on forced den-rest while I recovered from a near-fatal wound. What, did they think I'd be able to do any detective work while unable to move?

Lucky for me, most of them accepted my explanation, though I had to pull rank on a select few. This was something I had once enjoyed doing, but now I simply found it tiresome. I was a Legendary Pokémon with great and awesome powers, but my job was _kind of_ to protect others, not harm them. But sometimes certain people and Pokémon needed to be reminded of the fact that I had those great and awesome powers.

Much to my frustration, most of those who came up to me over the few days after my conversation with Reshiram were those with tidbits of information. This wouldn't have been so bad if only these tidbits were useful. Mostly they were things like, "I saw a person capturing a Wailmer off of Lilycove the other day! Yeah, it was in a Pokéball, what of it?"

Legitimate capturing wasn't my concern - what _was_ my concern was mass kidnapping like what had occurred some weeks ago near my preferred area of residence. No Pokéballs had been used, from what I had managed to glean since then. I'd had reports of nets, and had seen for myself such a thing happening when people had attempted to take Manaphy with a net.

Not that I would have reacted well if they'd tried to use a Pokéball, of course. He was mine, and I wasn't about to let anyone take him away from me until he (and I) was damn good and ready to go.

Arceus only knew when that would be, but the point remained.

Even more frustrating was the fact that it had been four days, and yet Manaphy still had yet to recover completely from the funk he'd been in since we'd left the Cave of Origin. I...I knew it was hard on him, seeing Groudon and I fight like that, but this was beyond what I was prepared to deal with. He would perk up for perhaps a few hours at a time, but then something would happen, and he would get the dreaded sad look on his face and not make any noise until being sufficiently distracted by something else.

I was beginning to fear that the only thing that would make him come out of it was going back to the Cave of Origin - which was _not_ something I was prepared to do. I doubted I would be anytime soon, either, but much to my own surprise and discontent, I found myself actually considering it if for nothing than for the sake of Manaphy's happiness.

Angrily, I crushed that consideration. As much as I hated to see him sad, he was just going to have to learn to deal with it, I told myself harshly. I couldn't and, moreover, wouldn't go back to the Cave of Origin. Facing Groudon had never been a problem for me before, but now the thought of it caused a deep ache in my chest that I had no desire to put up with or even acknowledge.

The sooner we both got over it, the better.

On the fifth day, I was starting to feel a little desperate. As I'd pointed out to myself countless times before, the art of parenting was one I was still completely new to, and thus I had no real idea how to go about many of the things I now found myself doing. My best bet was to go with my gut instinct for most of them, and much of the time, it turned out alright.

But this...I swore, it was going to drive me crazier than a Zubat in a belltower if it didn't stop soon.

I knew very well what the easiest solution would be, and as it was one I refused to accept, it obviously didn't happen. I absolutely was not going back there, not even if both Rayquaza and Arceus herself ordered me to. Hell, I didn't even know how I'd deal with it when the next meeting rolled around, and that was an entire five years away.

_Two_ years from now, I reminded myself hurriedly - the last one had been rushed thanks to several factors, and Arceus had refused to let anyone talk her out of continuing the regular schedule for anything. Who cared if we all had jobs and schedules of our own; what Arceus wanted, Arceus got.

But all that aside, I was completely at a loss for what to do with Manaphy and his sudden melancholy.

I had long ago begun to wish I'd paid more attention to Ho-Oh's rambling back when Raikou, Suicune, and Entei were still young. She'd given me some good advise during the first few days of my guardianship, and I'd appreciated it more than she would ever know, but she hadn't imparted even half of what I now wished she had.

Toys didn't work; he just stared at them or played with them until getting bored and going back to staring at the ocean floor with a sad look on his face.

Funny noises didn't work either; not even when I'd not-really-accidentally hit a passing Pelipper with water from my blowhole.

_Food_ didn't work, either. Manaphy _always_ cheered up at the sight of food. Always. And the first time I saw him apathetically gazing at the clump of seaweed I'd just placed in front of him instead of immediately leaping upon it, I knew I was in trouble.

Arceus spare me from all others besides myself. My life had been so much easier before that egg had hatched...

* * *

I sighed as Manaphy methodically shoved some of it into his mouth, not even looking at me. How the hell was I supposed to deal with this? I wanted to just tell him to get over his upset, but couldn't find the motivation to actually say it. Perhaps if the situation had been his fault, I might have, but it absolutely hadn't. And I could hardly punish Manaphy for something that was actually _my_ fault.

Well, mine _and_ Groudon's, I supposed, and as much as I hated to admit it, the fault was mostly mine.

I should have been better at communicating. I shouldn't have freaked out so badly at the thought of Manaphy thinking of him as a father figure. I should've gotten over my nerves and carried on like normal.

It had taken me five whole days to admit these things to myself, and doing so didn't make me feel any better.

Manaphy's touch on my arm distracted me from my thoughts, for which I was thankful. I frowned when I saw he hadn't even finished half of his food, but didn't want to press the subject. As I had learned a few days prior, when he didn't want to eat, no force on the planet could make him to do so. That had been an odd and uncomfortable discovery, that he didn't want to eat...

He stared up at me now with that forlorn expression that tore at me because I simply didn't know how to make it go away and _stay_ away. "Wanna swim," he said in a pleading tone, and I immediately leaped upon that.

Swimming, sure, I could use a swim myself now, too! The sun was beginning to set, but we hadn't done very much today - just the usual searching for information. I was reluctant still to search on land, and besides that, I lacked human clothing. And if there was one thing I refused to do, it was go among humans as one of them without clothes.

I was really beginning to wish I'd asked Groudon how he'd managed to transform with clothes on, but I could hardly do so now. Maybe I could steal a swimmer's suit or something, embarrassing though that would be for everyone involved...

But I'd exhausted just about every resource I had in the water. I doubted anyone else could tell me anything I didn't already know, and it looked like I would have to find a way to get on land soon.

The stealing-from-human-swimmers option was starting to look sort of viable. Arceus, what a horrible thought...

As the last rays of the sun stretched across the surface of the ocean, I made my way towards the area I'd taken us to right after I'd first gotten Manaphy's carrying pouch (which I had yet to retrieve or replace - had to remember to do that sometime soon...). My general idea was that if he saw a place he'd been happy and comfortable in, perhaps it would cheer him up for the rest of the night at the very least.

It was worth a shot, and I was more than willing to try.

Hoenn has always been one of the warmest of all regions in the world, but autumn was rapidly progressing into winter. The past week had marked the start of November, as humans said, and despite the fact that it wasn't as cold as, say, Sinnoh (now _that_ was a frigid region, and I thanked Arceus every day that I didn't live there), the temperature was nonetheless dropping more and more each day.

Being that I had a nice layer of blubber, I was fine, and Manaphy had shown that he apparently had no problem with colder temperatures. So we would both be fine, or so I hoped.

As I swam deeper, the only indication that he was uncomfortable was a slight shudder as he clung to my snout. I was really beginning to wish I still had the pouch, but until I had it back or had a replacement for it, I refused to let him sit anywhere that I couldn't immediately grab him. Thus, my snout. I could see _and_ grab him as needed.

I eyed him warily when he shuddered, but he didn't seem to be cold. He wasn't shivering, at any rate, which I took as a good sign, but I had to wonder why he'd looked so uncomfortable for a moment.

Visibility was bad, so I swam slowly, making sure not to go too deep too quickly. If something happened, I wanted to be able to make it to the surface easily. OK, so a nice, short swim, then. I'd let us both take comfort in this area, then go home for the night. Perfect.

As dark as it had been the first time we'd come here, it was even darker now, and colder. I began to wish I had a natural light, like a Chinchou or a Lanturn. Schools of them floated here and there, but none came too close to us, being too busy going back to their own dens for the night.

Slightly more alarming were the small schools of Carvanha and Sharpedo that crossed our path every now and again, the latter moreso than the former. Despite them being a source of food for me, something in me violently recoiled at the sight of them. Apparently I wasn't as over that incident as I would have liked to be...

"They OK," Manaphy's voice startled me, and I actually stopped swimming entirely to look at him.

"What?"

"They...they OK," he said, gesturing at the group that had just passed to my right. "Not...not hurt Mama. Or me. Not wanna hurt."

I gave him as reassuring a smile as I could manage, though I was honestly surprised that he knew what I had been thinking about. Maybe I was more transparent than I'd thought? Exactly how transparent about my feelings did I have to be for a baby to pick up on them?

Really, though, he'd always been quick on the uptake when it came to this kind of thing, and I remembered how, that day that I'd been injured, he'd screamed before I'd even known anything was wrong. It was thanks to that scream that I hadn't been speared somewhere worse than my side.

"I know they don't want to hurt us," I said softly. "But I'm still not very happy about them. OK?"

He gave me a nod that I barely saw in the gloom, then turned on my snout to stare out at the ocean in front of us.

"Something...there," he said, gesturing outward.

Immediately, I was on my guard. Had he seen something I'd missed? Carefully, I turned right and left, eyes searching the dark water as quickly as I dared, but I didn't see anything besides the odd schools of Water-type Pokémon going about their business.

"What's there?" I finally asked after five whole minutes of not seeing anything out of the ordinary.

Manaphy turned back to face me, looking troubled, and I instantly suppressed a groan. I knew that look. That was the I-want-to-say-something-but-I-don't-know-how look, and it was often an exercise in frustration trying to decipher anything at all when it happened.

Indeed, the next several minutes were spent with him vaguely gesturing out into the water and me nodding along but having no real idea of what he was talking about. Until he finally got a little more specific.

"Down...down there!" He pointed downwards, where there was no light and where I'd never quite bothered to go even by myself. "Something...down there!"

"Something is down there?" I repeated, somewhat incredulously. It wasn't that I didn't believe him - I did, as there were numerous deep-dwelling Pokémon in the world - but how on earth would he know about that?

"Down!" He nodded happily, pleased that apparently I was getting it.

I had to admit that I was still confused, though, and maybe a little bit worried. How exactly did he know something was down there? "Can you tell me what it is?" I asked, and was rewarded with the frustrated look again.

So that was a "no", apparently...

"Down! Down there!" was the best response I could get, and I finally decided that he was probably talking about any one of the random schools of Pokémon we'd seen during this little trip. More than one had come up from below us, so perhaps that's what he was hearing or whatever. At this point, I was too tired and frustrated with everything to care, and I was very eager to get out of here.

"Alright," I said calmly, turning around and heading upwards. "Maybe someday we can find what it is?"

A false promise, as I had no intention of going down there while he was with me - too unsafe for him, and I refused to take him down there until I knew exactly who and what was there myself - but one that put a wide smile on his face. Relief spread through me at that smile, and a wide grin of my own broke out. We were nearing where the drop-off into deep water met the long shallows of the Hoenn region, and I could practically hear my claimed sleeping spot calling my name.

And then I heard it.

The whirring of a motor, coming from below us.

As quickly as I could, I darted over to the shallows, somewhat awkwardly hiding amongst the large outcroppings of rock that stood there. It wasn't a perfect fit by any means, and my dorsal fins very blatantly jutted out even as I shifted myself as best I could - my size, while a blessing at certain times, was a curse at others - and I had already grabbed Manaphy from my snout, holding him carefully under me with my flippers wrapped securely around him. Nothing was going to get at him, not with me around.

The whirring motor became louder as it got closer to the surface, and when the machine it was powering finally left the deep darkness, all I could really make out of it was that it was fish-shaped - _not_ Sharpedo-shaped, though, I was relieved to see.

No, this one was quite a bit smaller, and shaped like a Feebas that was big enough to keep...perhaps two humans inside of it, if that. The Sharpedo one had been much bigger, and much more realistic-looking from a distance. This one was quite obviously a machine, and its maker hadn't even tried to disguise that fact.

Well, at least there would be no repeat incidents with _this_ one.

Still, I was incredibly curious, and despite my better judgment, I began to move towards it as it left the area, heading back towards the mainland. Remembering what Reshiram had told me about his suspicions - that the group who had stolen the little ones in the ocean were searching for something specific - only increased my curiosity. If this turned out to be one of theirs, and if I could follow them...

My heart began to beat very fast as I considered the possibilities, and I was so lost in my thoughts as I went along that I didn't remember Manaphy until the very last second.

Manaphy! He'd almost been taken too, that same day all the others had gone missing!

Immediately, I stopped swimming, though still kept an eye on the artificial Feebas as it slowly swam towards Hoenn. If this was indeed one of that group's, then I was bringing him right into danger. Some mother I was turning out to be!

And yet I was torn. Follow the first real potential lead since this whole search began and possibly endanger my baby, or stay back and let said potential lead go without investigating.

It was a hard decision to make, and I might have chosen the second option had the false Feebas not chosen to surface just then. One quick look at the occupants, I promised myself, and with a whisper to Manaphy to be quiet, I swam as silently as possible behind it.

Later on I would realize how much of a damn miracle it was that I had gotten so close without having been spotted - and indeed with my size, that probably should have happened a long time ago. But all thoughts were pushed out of my head by the sight of the human who pushed back the upper casing of that false Feebas, a worried and frustrated look on what of his face I could see, still underneath the water and looking up. My vision of what was above the surface was distorted by the waves, but years upon years upon years of practice had done me good.

Even so, I blinked several times and even rubbed at my eyes with my free flipper before being forced to accept what I had just seen.

I hadn't had thoughts of this human since seeing him in Alto Mare - and, I suppose, since he'd appeared in the extremely awkward dream I'd had while recovering in the Cave of Origin. The fact that I would see him now, emerging from that mechanical Feebas, just shocked me.

What in the name of Arceus was Russell doing here? And moreover, what had he been doing in the deep ocean?

* * *

**AN: Thus does Russell make another appearance! Sorry to leave it on a mild cliffhanger like this, but yeah. Back when he first appeared, some of you were speculating on his role in the story, so I'm glad to finally be able to get him back in here. Though just what he's doing will remain a mystery until a later date! *lightning crashes in the distance***

**Thank you all for reading, and I'll see you all either two Sundays from now or a couple days after!**


	16. In which an item is returned

**Hello, my dear readers! I'm very sorry for the delay, and for the shortness of this chapter. Very little writing time lately as I am currently fighting my way through the mess known as my family, and dealing with a couple medical problems that have cropped up. And with **_**X**_** and **_**Y**_** releasing this Saturday...oi. I'm not going to get much sleep this weekend XD**

**Last weekend was a lot of fun – some friends and I went to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios on Friday night, and I became my best friend's security blanket. She must have cut off the circulation in my left arm about twenty times within the first hour, but it was a LOT of fun. And my stay with my grandparents was a lot of fun as well.**

**Anyway, enough rambling; on with the fic!**

**Disclaimer: All I can really claim ownership of is each Pokémon's personality, and even then only slightly. **_**Pokémon**_** itself belongs to Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri. Anything you don't recognize as canon most likely belongs to me, however.**

**Going Off The Deep End  
By: Saya Moonshadow**

The last time I had seen this human had been during my and Latias' trip to Alto Mare to get the carrying pouch for Manaphy, and he'd seemed very normal at the time. I couldn't pretend to be an expert on humans, but this one had seemed all-around average to both me and Latias. Dark-haired with blue eyes, a couple of inches taller than my human form's 5'7, and a slightly muscled build. Nothing special.

He hadn't given any indication that he knew too much about Pokémon, or was even very interested in them, either. In fact, I didn't remember him even mentioning anything on the subject to us, preferring instead to focus on our (heavily doctored) personal lives. A typical young man, as far as I was aware.

And, I had to admit, the seeming lack of interest in Pokémon had been a relief to me. I'd had enough of people who were all _too_ interested, thank you.

So it came as a complete and utter shock to me to see him now, sitting in a giant mechanical Feebas in the middle of the ocean, having just risen from the darker depths.

What on earth was he doing down there?

Luckily for me, the water was choppy this evening from the cold wind that was blowing, and the resultant foam managed to hide me from his sight. I just had to be careful to keep my red markings from glowing, as they often did when I used my powers or when I got emotional. Not that he might have noticed me anyway, judging from how preoccupied he was looking.

He looked worried and frustrated. But about what? _I_ was the one who should be frustrated in this situation!

I kept as close to his vessel as I dared, hoping he would say something that might give me a clue as to his doings, but he was silent, merely rubbing his forehead and gazing out at the horizon while chewing his lip almost hard enough to make it bleed.

Had he been looking for something, then? What was down in that particular stretch? I didn't recall ever exploring that part of my domain too extensively, though now I was practically burning with the need to know.

And I was beginning to get worried, myself. The last time humans had found something in the deep ocean, it had been the Red Orb, which was then used to take control of me. The Blue Orb had been hidden at the summit of Mt. Pyre, and I didn't know where the Jade Orb was. Maybe Rayquaza had it, or maybe Arceus herself did. Either way, no one had ever gotten a hold of it, and I intended to keep it that way. If any human managed to take control of Rayquaza...

The Red Orb had been re-hidden in a safer location, which was nowhere around here. So that was safe. But what the hell else could be down there except for deep-sea Pokémon?

Then a thought struck me: was Russell part of the group that had taken all the babies? Was that even possible? If it was, and if it was true, then I would not be responsible for what I would do to him.

As I continued to watch him, Russell let out a sigh that I couldn't hear from the churning of the water covering it. Then, without replacing the cover of his vessel, he began piloting it back towards the mainland of Hoenn.

I followed him carefully, making sure to keep a fair distance back. The choppiness of the water would keep me covered, and since it was dark out, I wasn't likely to cast a visible shadow, but it never hurt to be prepared. And as much as I would have liked to simply throw caution to the waves and move in, something held me back.

_Better to be careful,_ I found myself thinking, and the soft pressure of Manaphy still resting on my snout reaffirmed this. He was where I could see and keep an eye on him, but he was also in a prime spot to get snatched by a net or something. My job was to protect him, which I'd had no problem with before, but I was unwilling to put him at risk unless I absolutely knew he was safe.

Curse myself for forgetting his carrying pouch in the Cave of Origin! If only I still had that, this wouldn't be such an issue!

And so, at a much slower pace than I usually went, I followed Russell back to shore. I had been hoping he would be going back to a ship - something I could keep a good eye on - but disappointingly, I saw that he was going towards Slateport City's many docks.

I was hesitant to enter the docking area, and for good reason - it would be difficult to maneuver around that many boats without bumping into something thanks to my size, and I would be forced to stay a long way down to avoid both that and being spotted.

The boats themselves were a good reason to stay out as well. The whirling rotor blades that a good portion of them had were not something I was eager to come into contact with any time soon.

And so I paused at the large wooden stakes that had been driven into the sand to mark the beginning of the docking area, keeping as much of an eye as I was able on Russell. Which admittedly was not much, thanks to me still being forced to stay underwater and rather far away from where he was.

He maneuvered his mechanical Feebas beside two large...dinghies, I believe they are called, got out, and stood back as the covering slid back over the cockpit area. And then, he turned and walked away from the dock, out of my sight.

I stayed in my position for a long time, though I knew I would have to move soon.

Far from having any questions answered, I was now more frustrated than ever, with even _more_ questions to answer!

I had no great love for humans, especially not after the incident with the Orbs some months ago, but I had regarded Russell as an annoying though ultimately harmless member of the species. One of the ones I _didn't_ exactly mind, in other words. The world needed more people with his lack of apparent interest in controlling Pokémon for his own gain. Or so I had thought.

Even if I still didn't know exactly what he was up to, that wasn't very comforting. A suspicious being by nature, experience had taught me to be very paranoid where humans were concerned. I'd sat back and done nothing when Team Aqua first emerged, telling myself there was no way they'd ever accomplish their goals, and the next thing I knew, that damned leader of theirs had been holding the Red Orb in front of me and throwing an Ultra Ball at me.

Not this time. Whatever was going on here, I intended to find out just what. Kidnapping babies was one thing, but the fact that at least one person was searching the deeps made me nervous. Even if the Red Orb was no longer in the same location it had been in before, there was no such thing as being too careful when it came to humans.

If, of course, that was what Russell had been looking for. I still didn't know what his actual aim was.

Frustrated, I turned away from the docking area of Slateport City to return to my sleeping spot, humming softly to calm myself down. Surprisingly, Manaphy didn't join me this time, instead staring curiously back at the dock.

"That's a dock," I said quietly. "Humans leave their boats there when they are not using them."

"Feebas," he replied, looking up at me.

I couldn't help but smile. "Yes, that one did look like a Feebas, didn't it?"

He touched the space between my eyes gently, searching my face with a worried look to him. "Not hurt you," he said seriously. "You not be afraid."

I flinched a little, staring back at him incredulously. Yes, I had been rather wary of the thing thanks to my _last_ encounter with a mechanical fish Pokémon, but how had Manaphy known that? Had I been so obvious in my feelings that even a child could pick up on them?

Then again, he had been around me literally for his entire life. He was bound to know my personal tics by now, but it was still odd that he could pick up on them so easily, or that he could know exactly why I was feeling the way I was. In hindsight, it probably would have been easy to tell that I wasn't eager to approach the thing. The reasons, on the other hand, shouldn't have been quite so obvious.

"I wasn't afraid, Manaphy," I told him just as seriously. "Just being careful. I didn't know if it was another one like the last one was."

He shook his head quickly from side to side. "Not like the last one," he told me, and I frowned.

Well, sure, it was a Feebas instead of a Sharpedo, and I had actually gotten a look at its pilot...I had also avoided being skewered like a Wurmple on a fishing hook this time around. Huge improvement, I must say.

I shook my head and continued my way back home. This day had been entirely unproductive, and what should have been a calming end to things had wound up getting me more riled up than ever.

Sleep. Sleep would do me good, I decided, and Manaphy was beginning to yawn and look tired as well. It had been a long day for us both.

Of course, despite what I had decided, sleep was a long time in coming for me. Manaphy dropped off like a rock right away, nestled in between my flippers, but I remained awake, unable to doze off as I usually did.

Truth be told, this had been commonplace ever since we'd left the Cave of Origin. I'd gotten used to falling asleep in a nest of sheets, it seemed, and settling back into my usual routine was proving harder than I'd expected it to.

I preferred daytime, because then I could occupy myself with my search, my usual duties, and Manaphy, but nighttime was something else entirely. Without work to keep me occupied, I was left free to think of anything and everything, and each night without fail, I found my thoughts turning to the Cave of Origin and, moreover, its inhabitant.

Annoyingly, thoughts of him still hurt. I found myself remembering the way he had smiled at me, and the memory would cause a light, fluttering feeling in my chest. And then I remembered the way he glared at me those last few minutes, and the fluttering was replaced full-throttle with a deep ache.

I didn't want to think about him, but I couldn't stop myself. I still couldn't figure out just what was wrong with him that last day. What had caused him to snap at me like that? Granted, I hadn't exactly been kind back, but...

Inexplicably, I found myself wanting to apologize. What on earth did I have to apologize for? I had been just _about_ to try to apologize when he'd gone and done _that_, for no discernible reason! If anything, _I_ was the one who was owed an apology, not him!

But I doubted I would ever get it. Groudon was many things, and proud was one of them. In fact, I'd rarely ever heard him apologize for anything, the incidents with his claws being the rare exception to the rule. Hell, not once had he ever apologized for trying to do away with me in our many battles before!

...and OK, so I had never apologized for doing the same to him either. But it was just one more example of how much we clashed.

But then, the memory of my first trip to the Cave of Origin after first receiving Manaphy came to mind. The way he'd _smiled_ at me, and had been concerned for me...I'd never had anyone do that for me before. Certainly not my rival from the time of my creation, but I doubted the effect would have been the same were it anyone else.

There had been absolutely no reason for him to do so - I wasn't injured at the time, so there was no obligation to be nice to me.

What exactly had been going through Groudon's mind at that moment? And at the moment he'd snapped at me before I left five days ago?

I doubted I'd ever really know, and I was in no great hurry to find out.

* * *

"Kyogre...Kyogre...Kyogre!"

I groaned and turned over. Sleep had taken a long time to come to me last night, and it couldn't have been more than four hours later that this aggravating wake up call had come in.

"My Lady, please wake up!"

"Mama sleep," I heard Manaphy explain patiently, and suppressed a snort of amusement. "She not wanna be bothered."

When exactly had he gotten so articulate? Articulate for a child, anyway.

"Yes, but..." The other voice faltered, sounding nervous. Nervous of what? It wasn't like I was going to fly off the handle and start destroying everything...it was too early for that, anyway, and I intended on claiming at least another three hours of sleep before getting up for the day.

"I-I-I have a message from your trio master, my Lady! He requests that you, um, wake up and go to meet with him!"

Alright, that did it.

I opened one bleary eye and glared balefully at the intruder, a Gorebyss who stared back at me somewhat fearfully. Yawning and showing my teeth got the thing to swim off in a hurry, and I carefully rolled onto my back to avoid squishing Manaphy, who was happily waving goodbye to the fleeing pink fish.

Sighing, I turned my gaze to my baby, noting with satisfaction that he didn't seem to be in the funk he'd been in the past couple of days. With any luck, he would remain this way!

"OK, guess that's no more sleep for us, then, huh?"

He shook his head, looking up at me with his usual adoring smile.

"Should we go see what Rayquaza wants, then?"

A shout of "Ray!" and a few eager laps around the length of my body later, and Manaphy was perched on my head as I surfaced in order to search for Rayquaza's green form in the sky.

I found him soon enough, twisting lazily in the air about a half-mile away from where I had been resting, and quickly swam over to him, not bothering to re-submerge myself so that he would notice me. He did so quickly enough, and made his way over to me with a superior look on his face.

This wasn't so surprising, as Rayquaza looks at the whole world like it's beneath him - which is literally is, most of the time - but I couldn't quite pin down the emotions in this look. If I didn't know better, I'd have said he was trying mightily not to laugh at me.

But that was impossible - Rayquaza rarely, if ever, laughed, and when he did, it was always at someone else's expense. Hell, I had a hard time remembering the last time I'd seen him do it. Seriously, was he even capable of such a thing anymore?

A flash of yellow caught my gaze, and I looked at the thing looped carelessly around his right claw - my carrying pouch! Or rather, Manaphy's carrying pouch, but who cared about the details just now!

He handed it down to me, watching me slip it back onto my right flipper with a sardonic, "Well, at least it still fits."

"Where did you get this?" I asked, ignoring him. Manaphy, meanwhile, was already wriggling his way back into the pouch, babbling happily the whole time. "Pouch! My pouch! Pouch! My...my pouch!"

"The Cave of Origin, where else?" Rayquaza asked, and I quickly regretted my impulsive question. Of course that was where he'd gotten it - that was where I'd left it.

Which meant he'd been to the Cave. Which meant he had most likely spoken to Groudon. Which meant he would know about our fight.

I mentally prepared myself for the usual diatribe about growing up and getting along with each other for once, but to my surprise and slight relief, it never came. Instead, he watched me with appraising eyes, and then said, "I hear some...words were exchanged."

At that, the good mood I'd been in upon having the pouch returned to me dropped completely. I scowled up at my trio master - what exactly was he trying to pull here? He should know the details by now; no doubt he hadn't left the Cave of Origin until he'd known exactly what was going on...

"They were," I said stiffly. I found myself almost wishing I were in my human form, so I could cross my arms over my chest. It just didn't have the same effect with flippers, which wasn't even mentioning that I couldn't move them in such a fashion to begin with. They were built very much for swimming with, not making weird human gestures.

"I also hear that Reshiram was involved in these words."

I blinked at this, nonplussed. Thinking back, Groudon _had_ mentioned Reshiram when he'd been snapping at me, but I failed to see how that was significant here.

Rayquaza sighed, carefully rubbing his forehead with his claws. While nowhere near as big or dangerous as Groudon's, they were still capable of drawing blood if one wasn't careful. I thought I caught the words, "Idiots, both of them," being muttered under his breath, but he didn't meet my confused gaze for a moment. "And did you meet with Reshiram?"

"Um, yes? But what does this have to do with—"

"It was bothering Groudon, yes?" he prompted, making a pushing motion with his claws. He smirked at me, which put me on my guard immediately. "Now, why might that be?"

He thought I would know? Please, why did Groudon do literally anything that he did that day? Because he was insane, plain and simple, and I was even more insane for still being hurt by what he'd said to me that day.

After a moment of me not answering, Rayquaza sighed exasperatedly and rubbed his forehead again. "I envy Giratina," he said.

"You do?" I asked incredulously. That was the first I'd ever heard of _this_ new turn of events...since when did _anyone_ envy Giratina? For anything? The guy was the epitome of the Unenviable.

Rayquaza nodded emphatically. "Yes, because at least his trio-mates aren't a pair of clueless yutzes who cannot see what's plainly right in front of them."

"What?"

This just confused me more than ever. Palkia, not a clueless yutz? Not likely; if anything, he was even more clueless than Raikou had a tendency to be. It had taken him literally years to figure out that Kyurem was female, and this with having spoken to her _and_ having Reshiram and Zekrom refer to her as female right in front of him several times. Same as Giratina was the poster-mon for Unenviable, Palkia was the one for Clueless.

Dialga, on the other hand, was usually in the know about pretty much everything.

Then again, apparently I was clueless myself, if Rayquaza's words were anything to go by. He looked exasperated - well, moreso than he usually did - at my rather eloquent response, and shook his head.

"Have you discovered anything else about the missing ones?" he asked, thankfully changing the subject. I really wasn't ready to discuss what had happened between me and Groudon with him, or with anybody else, for that matter.

I answered in the negative, because I really hadn't. I also didn't mention seeing Russell. Rayquaza had never met the man, and likely wouldn't care even if he had. I'd need more than, "I saw him come out of the ocean in a mechanical Feebas" to get Rayquaza to take notice of a single human.

He left me after a few more minutes of conversation, and once his green, twisting form was out of sight, I dove back under the water to go hunt for food. My tiredness had fled during that talk, and I still had a lot to think about.

And perhaps the hyperactive blue speck poking his head out of his reclaimed pouch and yelling "I'M HUNGRY!" had something to do with it as well.

* * *

**AN: Not much to say here...I'm about to fall asleep, so I should probably get to that soon.**

**I'm not sure when the end of this fic will come – probably in about ten or so chapters, though I will definitely be a little sad when it does. I enjoy working on it, and as happy as I'll be to finish it, I'll miss it when it's done. Ah, well. Such is life.**

**Also, a while back, I got the Red and Blue Orbs mixed up during one chapter. The Red Orb is used to control Kyogre in _Sapphire Version_ but to summon Groudon in _SoulSilver Version_, whereas the Blue Orb is used to control Groudon in _Ruby Version_ but to summon Kyogre in _HeartGold Version_. The Jade Orb, meanwhile, was introduced in HGSS as a means to summon Rayquaza. (Man, I really hope we get remakes of _Ruby_ and _Sapphire_ at some point.) I'll go back and fix the mistake in the previous chapter later.**

**Thank you to everyone who has read and/or reviewed this story! See you all two Sundays from now! **


	17. In which Kyogre steps up her search

**This chapter is brought to you by "Stay In My Memory" by Bim! It is the theme song for this pair in my head, among many others.**

**I am late, but that is because I wound up redoing the whole chapter. Reading what I had written before...yeah. Not good. I'm afraid this one still isn't quite up to what I can usually do, but this is the third rewrite it's been through in the last nine days alone, and I just want to get it posted already.**

**Also, that "What Does the Fox Say?" song is the single most confusing thing I've borne witness to all season. I...I just...**_**what.**_** I don't know what kind of thought process led to the creation of this song, but I admit that I am curious.**

**Disclaimer: All I can really claim ownership of is each Pokémon's personality, and even then only slightly. **_**Pokémon**_** itself belongs to Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri. Anything you don't recognize as canon most likely belongs to me, however.**

**Going Off The Deep End  
By: Saya Moonshadow**

As Manaphy tore into a large patch of kelp in front of me, I allowed my mind to drift back to my conversation with Rayquaza. Arceus above, if I wasn't careful, I'd be obsessing over this for weeks instead of what I _should_ have been concentrating on.

Just what exactly had that green sociopath meant by "clueless yutzes"? I was hardly clueless when it came to my own personal dealings; I knew what was being thought and said about me, and I kept fairly good tabs of the grudges being held against me. Case in point, the one held by many humans within the Hoenn region. As annoyingly uncomfortable as it was to be disliked by the people of the region I inhabited, I _had_ nearly destroyed their home - and even if it wasn't truly my fault, I'd still dealt much of the damage.

Meanwhile, Rayquaza was being hailed as a hero for stopping us from destroying everything. Never mind that he beat us to within an inch of our lives in the process...

But...he _had_ mentioned something about what was bothering Groudon. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I was zeroing in on that portion of our talk, and I cursed myself for not asking Rayquaza to elaborate on what he'd meant. Not that he would've, probably. He'd been in a mood I could only describe as "teasing", and he only rarely answered my questions anyway. Whenever I complained about this, the only answer I would ever get was something about figuring things out on my own.

Never mind, of course, that it was nearly always after I had driven myself crazy going through every other alternative that I ever asked for help...

Something about Reshiram. Well, obviously. Reshiram's visit had bothered Groudon more than I've ever seen anyone else do, with the exception of myself. He'd been downright hostile and threatening when the Yin Dragon had been in the Cave of Origin, something he usually only ever did around me. Reshiram hadn't exactly been kind to him, either, but...

For some reason, I began to wonder if he would have reacted the same way if it had been Zekrom who'd invaded the Cave. Or Kyurem. They were both of a quieter disposition than Reshiram (especially Kyurem, who literally never spoke), and Zekrom was a very kind being, one who was always trying to make the world a better place and trying to lift everybody's spirits and all this other inspirational nonsense. She was very much like Suicune in that regard, except perhaps a little less intimidating when angry.

If Zekrom had been there, Groudon definitely wouldn't have threatened to bury her in rubble. No, he would have invited her to stay longer, and spoken to her for hours on end because she was so kind and nice and uplifting and only ever got violent when sorely pushed.

He would have been happy to see her, I bet. And I also bet that she wouldn't have had to arrive half-dead in order to get him to let her stay. She could just waltz in whenever she wanted and he'd take time off from whatever he was doing, even if it was battling with me, to see to her needs and...

I froze as a thought occurred to me. Groudon had actually sort of spoken well of Zekrom after Reshiram had left. He'd wondered how someone like her could possibly put up with Reshiram - but hadn't done the same for me. Was this implying something? Did he think I was just as bad as Reshiram?

Did he think Zekrom was better than me? Could that even be a possibility? If he did, then I swore I would—

It suddenly hit me that I was behaving like a complete fool, and I shook my head violently to clear out my thoughts.

What did it matter to me what Groudon thought of Zekrom? He was allowed to think anything he wanted of her, and I had absolutely no say in the matter. It didn't matter to me what he thought of me or anybody.

Except...

It _did_ matter to me. The thought of him thinking so highly of Zekrom elicited a feeling in me that I was surprised to recognize as anxiety. But that was stupid! I'd seen them speaking to each other literally just once in all the time I'd known them both, and that had been to exchange typical greetings ("Hello, Hoenn Earth-type! I am Zekrom, Dragon of Yang, dragon-and-electric type, partner to Reshiram and Kyurem!" - "I'm Groudon. Earth-type, partner of Rayquaza and that awkward blue thing in the corner.").

Arceus. I was being a complete idiot. And I knew it, too.

"_I also hear that Reshiram was involved in these words."_

Rayquaza's statement rang out in my mind, and I stopped mentally beating myself up as something else attempted to surface.

Yes...now that I thought about it...Groudon had specifically mentioned Reshiram during our last fight right before I left his cave. I'd thought nothing of it at the time, but now it seemed so very important. By all means, he should have been angry solely at me, not Reshiram, who'd only invaded his cave for a maximum of ten minutes. I, on the other hand, had invaded it for over a week.

Granted, I'd been recovering from a serious injury, but the point still stood.

I'd been unable to face Groudon after realizing that _he_ was what Manaphy meant whenever he would yell "Da!", which was entirely my own fault, but...

Oh, Arceus. What if he'd thought it was because of Reshiram? After all, I hadn't exactly given him a reason for why I was avoiding him, and I'd been cut off right before I'd been about to explain. But that was stupid, because that would imply that Groudon had been...jealous.

I felt my heart give a great _thump_ in my chest at the thought.

Why on earth did that thought make me so happy?

But really, could it have been that he was jealous? And if so, _why?_ What exactly was he jealous of?!

_Idiot,_ I heard a nasty voice at the back of my head scoff, _how dense can you get? Or are you really just that dumb?_

Groudon being jealous because of Reshiram's visit implied something I was almost afraid to even contemplate. But combined with this and with what Rayquaza had said, it was beginning to look more and more like that was the case.

But that meant our fight was even more my own fault than it had already been. Yes, Groudon had said some unkind things, but I was the one who'd ignored him for two days before that for something that wasn't even his fault. It had been _my_ awkwardness that kept me from being decent to him during this time, and though I'd known that all along, my hurt and anger over our fight had kept me from fully realizing just how badly it must have hurt him.

I'd have to...apologize. As bad as our history together was, I knew I wouldn't be able to just sit and let this stew for very long. Especially not now that I had finally allowed myself to realize how much to blame I was. Yes, Arceus did, in fact, create me with something slightly resembling a conscience. It doesn't surface very often, but when it does, it hits me hard.

And...Manaphy would be happy about this as well, I knew. Despite my best efforts, he really hadn't been happy since we'd left the Cave of Origin.

Finally coming out of my thoughts and feeling more at peace than I'd felt in days, I looked over at my baby, who was just finishing his meal. Apparently unaware that I was watching him, he picked up one of the toys Ho-Oh had lent me all those months ago and began to chew on it. Teething? Or just a natural instinct to chew on things? I had yet to see anything resembling teeth in his mouth, so I was banking more on the latter.

Sighing, I allowed myself to smile. Tomorrow, I decided, I would go to the Cave of Origin and...apologize.

Come to think of it, when was the last time I did such a thing? Arceus, maybe I was vainer than I'd thought...

OK. OK, I could do this. It was perfectly alright to be nervous and on my guard, because we hadn't exactly parted on good terms. I doubted he'd attack me on sight, but it never hurt to be prepared.

OK. I was calm.

Calm.

I could do this. Really.

But before that...I had something else I needed to do. It was time to stop being such a...a pansy, as Raikou would have said, about finding the missing little ones. Now that I had my nonsense with Groudon worked out (or as much as I was going to get until I actually managed to go over there and say what I needed to say), I would be able to concentrate more on the matter at hand.

I would need help, though. Manaphy couldn't come with me, and I would need clothes.

Yes, I was going to go to the surface and see if there were any humans who knew anything. But I could hardly go just yet, being as unprepared as I was.

For the first time ever, I found myself cursing my general lack of knowledge of the human world. I knew the basics, such as how to behave in public, and having had to spend over a week in human form had helped me learn to walk so at least I wasn't stumbling all over the place like a complete moron any longer, but I lacked a few essentials.

First and foremost, clothes. Which meant I'd need to borrow some.

Latias could help me, I decided, this being that she was the only other female Legend in this region, and also probably the only one I absolutely knew Manaphy would be completely safe with. He'd be fine in her garden while I went out and collected answers. From what I'd observed, humans thrived on gossip, and busy market towns like Slateport City and Alto Mare were home to some of the most prolific gossipers I was likely to meet.

I wasn't likely to forget some of the tidbits I'd heard in Alto Mare during my and Latias' excursion through its marketplace. Some of them were downright raunchy, and still others were so detailed I suspected they were the result of prodigious spying rather than hearsay.

With luck, someone would have seen or heard something. No one in the ocean was likely to be able to help me, and I'd already exhausted pretty much anyone I might have been able to speak to. No one had seen anything of use, and much to my annoyance, a certain number of them were of the opinion that I should just give up.

Perhaps, had the capturing been legitimate. And...perhaps, before Manaphy had been given to me. Back then, I wouldn't have been able to understand what existed between a parent and child. I had barely understood the concept of a bond to begin with; my primary allegiance was to myself and only myself, with only the barest of bonds existing between me and my two counterparts. We had been put together by necessity, and even though we managed to learn enough about each other to survive being in each other's company, we were never exactly close. Groudon and I had been at each other's throats pretty much all our lives, and we were only on slightly better terms with Rayquaza, who, it must be admitted, we were afraid of. I suppose we were no worse than Dialga and Palkia, who had apparently had to watch as their counterpart was banished into another world entirely, but I digress. At least they managed to stay away from each other and avoid fights most of the time, which was way more than Groudon and I had ever managed.

I took a moment to wonder when my rivalry with him had started. I honestly couldn't recall just when or _how_ it had happened, but happened it had, and we'd been at each other's throats ever since.

But Manaphy had opened something in me I hadn't quite known was there. I was still the same quick-tempered Kyogre I'd always been, but I felt...calmer now. And perhaps a bit more understanding towards other creatures, now that my existence was no longer based around just me. I had always wondered why anyone would ever base their existence around another being, and now I had some inkling of why. I couldn't tell you when he'd become important to me, but he had, and that was that.

If anything happened to him, I swore I'd...I'd...

Well. No one would like what I'd do, that was for sure.

* * *

Unluckily for me, it seemed Latias was not quite out and about when I arrived at Alto Mare. I was unwilling to break the surface of the water, as this would likely startle any watching humans, and this made visibility understandably crappy. So, I settled for swimming around the town and shooting waterspouts from my blowhole for now. It was how I usually got her attention when she was flying, and today would be no different. Hopefully she was actually _out_ where she could see it...

An hour into this activity, something white and red flew across the sky just as I sent out another spout. Much to my mixed amusement and embarrassment, I managed to almost knock poor Latias out of the air, thoroughly soaking her in the process. She caught herself and then hovered above where my face was patiently, wiping her face off with her dainty front claws.

I surfaced, grinning at her sheepishly. "Um, sorry about that? It was an accident, I swear."

She rolled her eyes, but was smiling good-naturedly. "I thought I saw one of your spouts a few minutes ago," she told me, flicking some leftover water at me. "Didn't think I'd end up getting sprayed, though! But anyway, that aside, did you need aside?"

I explained about my plan, and about Manaphy. "I can't leave him with just anyone, and to be honest, you're really the only one I trust to keep him completely safe right now. Your garden is virtually unknown to the humans here, right?"

She grinned. "The only one who knows is Bianca, and she won't tell a soul," she said eagerly, nodding back towards the town. "But yes, I can take care of him for a while! If you wait here for a minute, I'll go get clothes for you. Meet me under the south pier; it's mostly abandoned and no one goes there. You can get dressed there."

I nodded, relieved. This was what we'd done the day I'd gone to get Manaphy's pouch, and so fifteen minutes later found me resuming my human form once again on the sand under the pier while Latias kept her eyes politely closed and handed me a black top and blue skirt to put on.

This time around, however, I was much more used to this form. I could walk without stumbling too badly, and I was in no immediate danger of losing my balance. Wait until Cresselia got a load of this! She'd often joked with me that I'd never master the fine art of walking, and I would have dearly loved to see her face when she saw me now. Especially after I'd yelled hers and Suicune's ears off about how I'd never use this form ever again. No doubt Suicune would find this amusing, too; she had been the other one helping me stumble around that first day when Arceus had given us these forms. I'd spent the rest of that week hiding in the Hall of Origin from everybody else after the spectacle with the fruit cart had gone down. Arceus, that was embarrassing. I wasn't the only one who didn't have legs in my natural form, but I somehow managed to be the only one who'd caused property damage as a human.

Anyway, ignoring the slightly nippy breeze of autumn, I strode carefully out from beneath the pier, acting like I'd just been for a swim. Manaphy's pouch was looped over my shoulder, while Manaphy himself was clutched in Latias' paws. She had cloaked herself using her special light-bending trick, and was hovering just behind me, whispering directions to her garden as I walked.

After promising to come find them before the sun went down, I left them to go back to the garden while I made my way to the market area.

Somehow, it didn't seem as daunting as it had that first time. Maybe it was just because I'd already been in it once before, but it was no longer the awful obstacle it had been before. I wasn't too enthused about having to converse with humans, but it wasn't as bad as it had once been.

Apparently even I was capable of learning to be somewhat social. Rayquaza would be proud, and it only took several centuries to happen!

All jokes aside, even I was a little proud of this progress. I'd gone from convincing myself I couldn't do this for X amount of reasons, to actually doing it within the space of a day. Hopefully my efforts paid off so it wouldn't have to be repeated too many more times.

Trainers and those well-versed in the ways of Pokémon usually hung out around the stalls that sold Pokéballs, so I headed there first. I had no currency of my own to spend, but it appeared that no shopkeeper had anything about...window-shopping, as I'd heard it described, so I was good to go.

Even still, it was nerve-wracking. I found myself leaning towards a new respect for Groudon, who had done this at least every day that Manaphy and I had been staying in his cave. Going out among humans like this every day...I wasn't sure I could have done that and remained as calm as he had. They still made me nervous, even though it had been several months since the Team Aqua incident.

Shaking off my nerves as well as I was able, I managed to strike up a conversation with the keeper of the Pokéball stall. Asking the powers of each different ball and such, and he was more than happy to answer my questions. I answered in the negative when he asked me if I was a Trainer myself, wondering how he'd react to knowing what I actually was, and instead claimed to just be curious as I had a cousin or some such who'd been a Trainer. It was the best I was able to come up with on such short notice, and yes, my stories needed work. Still, they were better than Latias' fake names - Manny, honestly...

I then steered the conversation towards the missing babies, saying I'd heard that young Pokémon had been observed being taken from the wild in droves. Articuno had told me of another villainous team who had done similar things in her region of Kanto, and the stallkeeper mentioned this as well.

"Sounds like Team Rocket, miss," he said, narrowing his eyes worriedly. "Back in Kanto, and Johto, too, they did like that - took Pokémon in packs and used them for terrible purposes. Took 'em from other Trainers, too, just plain stole 'em and turned 'em against everybody!" His bushy mustache fairly bristled, and I began to feel bad for worrying this portly human. Obviously I had upset him with my news, and I hurried to soothe him.

"I'm sure it's not them," I said kindly. And indeed I was. Team Rocket, from what I'd been told, rather failed in the stealth department. They had liked to be known; liked the spotlight, really. Team Aqua and Team Magma had been the same way. Unable to resist making a spectacle, and also unable to resist stirring up high-profile trouble whenever possible. I didn't know much about what was currently going on in Sinnoh beyond what Reshiram had told me, but I was willing to bet that the team over there was the same way. They all were, it seemed.

Loudmouthed idiots with more ambitions than sense, all of them.

As I continued to talk to the stallkeeper, Trainers also began to congregate around the stall, which I guess I should have expected. They _did_ need Pokéballs, after all, and some of them were more than happy to inquire on what we were discussing, but did they _have_ to stand so close to me while they spoke? Perhaps I was still just un-used to this kind of thing, but I was fairly sure that leaning over someone like that was rude.

Not that any of them had any information worth knowing, anyway. Only one was able to tell me something I wasn't already aware of, which was that certain members of Hoenn's Pokémon Rangers Association were looking into this mysterious group's doings.

Up to now, I'd been largely unaware of any Pokémon Rangers in Hoenn. They were a relatively new thing, the young man explained to me when I asked, still leaning uncomfortably close to me. "They're mostly based in Sinnoh and Unova, but recently they've started comin' over to Hoenn, Johto, and Kanto, y'know, to help out with things there. Too bad they couldn't have come when Team Magma was making all that noise, huh?"

"Team Aqua, too," the boy behind him piped up, and he nodded.

"Yeah, them, too. Idiots, all of 'em."

I stifled a smile at this. Good, at least the humans recognized what utter morons they had been. But I was still curious. "Where can I find these Rangers?"

"What for?" he asked, leaning in even more. "You thinkin' of joinin' 'em?"

"Something like that," I muttered. I could hardly explain my actual purpose, but if I could get information - any information - out of them, I'd be happy.

"Well, I guess I could tell you where they are..."

My face must have lit up, because he chuckled in a manner I can only describe as "creepy" - as creepy as Darkrai's laugh, to be honest, and that was horror movie material - and moved his hand to touch my cheek. "But, y'know, I can't do it for free. Howzabout we have dinner or something first?"

I took a step back, glaring.

How..._dare_ this human presume to touch me? True, he couldn't possibly have known who I was, but even still! Touching a person he'd only just met, whoever heard of such a thing? I'd been warned of this kind of thing by my fellow female Legendaries, many of whom spent much more time among humans than I did, but I never thought I'd be one to have this happen to me. That one time right after the fruit cart notwithstanding, I had largely not had to deal with this kind of thing.

Humans could be...rather forthcoming when they wanted something, I had come to see. No matter what that something was.

To be honest, I was both offended and creeped out. The offense came from the blatant lack of respect that this human _child_ was showing me, and the creeped out-ness came from the look in his eyes as he did so, like he was eating me with his gaze. It was not a pleasant thing to be looked at like I was food, and I began to understand maybe a little bit of what my own prey probably felt like when they saw me coming. Except surely I wasn't this freaky-looking. Just hungry.

I took another step away from the young man, glaring at him haughtily. "No," I said in answer to his question. "I can find them just fine on my own, thank you."

Or, at least, I could ask someone who didn't look at me the way a hungry Sharpedo would look at a Clamperl.

Much to my annoyance, this boy chose to follow me throughout the marketplace, making annoying comments whenever I spoke to someone else. This went on for a good forty-five minutes at least, and I was seriously considering resuming my natural form and executing a Surf attack with him as my main target when I spotted something that caught my interest right away.

I had seen that head of dark hair only a day or so prior, and I wasn't likely to miss that face, either.

Russell! If anyone was suspicious here, it was him, and I began to move towards him. I managed to lose my hanger-on in the crowd as I went - you can choose to judge for yourself whether or not his unfortunate slip and landing in a garbage bin was my fault. I claim no responsibility either way.

"RUSSELL!" I shouted over the din, waving my hands. The last time I'd seen him - at least in this form - he had expressed interest in a second meeting. Hopefully that interest had not faded, I thought, as I pushed past a young woman with frizzy auburn hair under a bandana.

But, annoyingly, Russell didn't seem to see me. He moved away from me, forcing me to chase after him some more. He somehow managed to always stay at least eight steps away, and before I knew it, we had reached the edge of the marketplace and were about to enter the main city of Alto Mare.

I stopped for a split second as I watched him about to vanish between the buildings, which had a waterway with several gondolas running through it. Alto Mare was a fairly straightforward city as far as architecture went - certainly nothing as bad as I had heard LaRousse City was - but it was still one I was relatively unfamiliar with. If I lost sight of him now, I knew I wouldn't be able to find him again.

With only another slight moment of hesitation, I followed him into the city.

* * *

**AN: For the fruit cart incident, please refer back to chapter two. To summarize, though, the first time Kyogre ever assumed her human form thanks to Arceus' decree that all the Legends should learn to use it, she tripped and knocked over a small fruit cart in the human town that she, Cresselia, and Suicune were walking around in (for this story's purposes, it was Floaroma Town in Sinnoh). LaRousse City is the setting for _Destiny Deoxys_, if I am remembering correctly. It's an anime-exclusive location, like Alto Mare, and is apparently very technologically advanced, with many moving pathways and whatnot.  
**

**Good God, this took way longer than I had thought. I won't bore you with the whole story, but the last month and a half has not been good. As you may have read on my profile, I wound up in the emergency room two weeks ago thanks to a problem with my foot, and that was probably the least of all the nonsense that's been going on lately. For starters, due to being told of the event a whopping two days before it occurred, I was unable to attend my great-aunt's memorial service, and a certain member of my family apparently finds this unacceptable and has taken to calling me up every few days to bitch me out. Never mind that I have a full-time job and was told point-blank by my boss that, while he sympathized, he couldn't give me that much time off on such short notice. At least I'm finally able to wear shoes again now that the wound left over from my procedure is healing up. And at least I'm no longer on antibiotics for it, either. (I said I wasn't going to bore you with this stuff, and see how I start...) **

**In conclusion, October sucked and I'm not looking forward to the rest of November. I just hope it's better than this month was, because between all of this and the bullcrap drama in my family right now, I'm stressed to a point that I haven't been in years.**

**Anyway, my personal woes aside, I hope you enjoyed this very late chapter. I'm not entirely sure when the next one will come, but it will most likely not be until late next month. I'll see if I can manage something earlier, but I'm just so burned out from everything lately that I don't know.**

**Hope you are all having a better season than I'm having, and I'll see you next time...**


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